علجوم

From the root ع ل ج (ʕ-l-j) meaning “to be strong or sturdy”, “to be robust or bulky”, “to be massive”, “to be big or thick”, “to be long or tall”; a variant of عَلْجَن (ʕaljan, “a female camel with a bulkier male-like frame; a camel strong enough to use for work”). Applied semantically to a great variety of things mostly to animals of bulky shape, or for describing the male figure in the dichotomy of sexes of animals, like the generic usage of the terms bull or buck. The sense of a kingfisher derives from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn).

عُلْجُوم • (ʕuljūm) m (plural عَلَاجِيم (ʕalājīm))

1. kingfisher, halcyon
2. toad, male frog
3. male duck, mallard
4. male ostrich
5. wild he-goat
6. dragon
7. deep water, big wave
8. louse
9. dense orchard of palm-trees
10. darkness of night, big shadow blocking light

• → Hebrew: עלגום

• Blois, François de (1990) Burzōy’s Voyage to India and the Origin of the Book of Kalīlah wa Dimnah, London: Royal Asiatic Society, →ISBN, page 12