gremxul
Maltese
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unknown, suggested Arabic دَرَمَ (darama, “to run with short steps (said of a hare or hedgehog); to be thick and salient (said of houghs)”) + شَوِل (šawil), شَوْل (šawl, “agile, swift”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡrɛmˈʃuːl/
Noun
gremxul m (collective, singulative gremxula, paucal gremxuliet)
- lizards
- 1949, Anton Buttigieg, “Il-Ġebla tal-Ġeneral”, in Fanali bil-Lejl:
- u lili firdu minn mal-art għal dejjem,
u jien sfajt blata u gżira l-aktar ċkejkna,
bi ftit faqqiegħ u ftit gremxul sewdieni
ngħix ħajja waħdi.- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- pipefish
- greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus)
- Synonym: gremxul tal-baħar
- straightnose pipefish (Nerophis ophidion)
- broadnosed pipefish (Syngnathus typhle)
- greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus)
- lizardfish
- Synonym: skalm
Derived terms
- gremxula ta’ Malta (Podarcis filfolensis)
References
- Behnstedt, Peter, Woidich, Manfred (2010) Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte – Band I: Mensch, Natur, Fauna und Flora (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 100) (in German), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, , →ISBN, page 364b