Cumin (Cuminum cyminum, pronounced /ˈkjuːmɪn/ or UK: /ˈkʌmɪn/, US: /ˈkuːmɪn/, and sometimes spelled cummin) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to East India. The English "cumin" derives from the French "cumin", which was borrowed indirectly from Arabic "كمون" Kammūn via Spanish comino during the Arab rule in Spain in the 15th century. The spice is native to Arabic-speaking Syria where cumin thrives in its hot and arid lands.

Cumin seeds have been found in some ancient Syrian archeological sites. The word found its way from Syria to neighbouring Turkey and nearby Greece most likely before it found its way to Spain. Like many other Arabic words in the English language, cumin was acquired by Western Europe via Spain rather than the Grecian route.

Some suggest that the word is derived from the Latin cuminum and Greek κύμινον. The Greek term itself has been borrowed from Arabic. Forms of this word are attested in several ancient Semitic languages, including kamūnu in Akkadian.

The ultimate source is believed to be the Sumerian word gamun. A folk etymology connects the word with the Persian city Kerman where, the story goes, most of ancient Persia's cumin was produced. For the Persians the expression "carrying cumin to Kerman" has the same meaning as the English language phrase "carrying coals to Newcastle".

Kerman, locally called "Kermun", would have become "Kumun" and finally "cumin" in the European languages.

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