gremxul

Maltese

Alternative forms

• drenxul, dremxul

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)

1. lizards

   Synonym: dirbi (dorbi)

   gremxula griża ― female lizard

   gremxula ħadra ― male lizard

   • 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)

2. pipefish
   1. greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus)

      Synonym: gremxul tal-baħar

   2. straightnose pipefish (Nerophis ophidion)
   3. broadnosed pipefish (Syngnathus typhle)
3. lizardfish

   Synonym: skalm

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, →DOI, →ISBN, page 364b