Learn Arabic › B2 › تِمْساح
تِمْساح
crocodile /timˈsaːħ/
nounB2#3784 most common
Example sentences
هذا تِمْساحٌ.
This is a crocodile.
يَعيشُ التِّمْساحُ في النَّهْرِ.
The crocodile lives in the river.
رَأَيْتُ تِمْساحًا كَبيرًا في حَديقَةِ الحَيَوانِ.
I saw a big crocodile at the zoo.
تَحْذَرُ الحَيَواناتُ الصَّغيرَةُ مِنَ التَّماسيحِ القَريبَةِ مِنَ الماءِ.
Small animals are wary of crocodiles near the water.
يَسْتَطيعُ التِّمْساحُ أَنْ يَبْقى ساكِنًا لِساعاتٍ طَويلَةٍ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُهاجِمَ فَريسَتَهُ فَجْأَةً.
A crocodile can stay motionless for long hours before suddenly attacking its prey.
على الرَّغْمِ مِنْ مَظْهَرِهِ البِدائِيِّ، يُعَدُّ التِّمْساحُ أَحَدَ أَكْثَرِ الكائِناتِ تَطَوُّرًا مِنَ الناحِيَةِ التَّشْريحِيَّةِ عَبْرَ تارِيخِ الأَرْضِ.
Despite its primitive appearance, the crocodile is considered one of the most anatomically evolved creatures in the history of the earth.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | تِمْساحٌ | تَماسيحُ |
| Genitive | تِمْساحٍ | تَماسيحَ |
| Accusative | تِمْساحًا | تَماسيحَ |
| Vocative | يا تِمْساحُ | يا تَماسيحُ |
Word family
تَماسيحcrocodiles (plural)
تِمْساحِيّcrocodile-like, crocodilian
جِلْد تِمْساحcrocodile leather
Etymology
Arabic تمساح is not built from a native Semitic root. It is a loanword that descends from Coptic emsah/temsah, which itself continues Ancient Egyptian msḥ, the term for the Nile crocodile. The initial ت belongs to the borrowed Coptic form rather than to any Arabic prefix, though its shape led later grammarians to treat it as if it followed the Arabic tifʿāl noun pattern. English crocodile comes from an unrelated source, Greek krokódeilos, so the two words for the same animal are not cognates.
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