حرباء

Arabic

حِرْبَاء

Etymology

  • From حَرْبَة (ḥarba, dart, javelin; weapon in a general sense) from the root ح ر ب (ḥ-r-b); likely a reference to the projectile-like tongue of a chameleon. Cognate with Akkadian 𒁇𒁯𒁯𒉡 (ḫurbabillu, chameleon) and Eblaite 𒀭𒊩𒄯𒁀 (ḫur.ba.um, chameleon).
  • Alternatively, philologist Georg Freytag lists it as from a Persian خُرْبَا (ḵurbā), giving the meaning “guardian of the sun” without a source; perhaps related to Persian آفتاب‌پرست (âftâb-parast, chameleon, literally sun-worshiper).

Noun

حِرْبَاء (ḥirbāʾ) m (plural حَرَابِيّ (ḥarābiyy))

  1. chameleon

Declension

Synonyms

  • جَمَل اليَهُود (jamal al-yahūd, literally Jewish camel)

References

  • Freytag, Georg (1830), حرباء”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 361
  • Lane, Edward William (1863), حرباء”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 540–541
  • Black, Jeremy; George, Andrew; Postgate, Nicholas (1976) A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, page 121
  • Leonid Kogan (2006), Animal Names: 4.3. Lizards in Babel und Bibel 3: Annual of Ancient Near Eastern, Old Testament, and Semitic Studies, Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns in conjunction with the Russian State University for Humanities, page 298, note 177
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