Arabic names for the penguin

[Rainbowlight]

Hello everyone,

I have been able to find out that " بطريق " is the common Arabic word to refer to a penguin. While trying to know a little bit more about the etymology of the word, I learned that it seems that it stems for the word "patrician". I wonder if there's another, more realistic etymology, such as a word that makes reference to the large quantities of grease this animal can yield or its characteristically erect position. Some languages, such as German or Dutch, clearly refer to the first attribute.

I have also seen the terms "tarsah" or "tarsuh" to refer to this animal. Are these words used in common speech? Do these words have a known etymology?

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

 

[WannaBFluent]

بطريق is from Ancient Greek πατρίκιος.

There's also the word أكتع and I think it's an onomatopoeia from the sound these penguins/oaks do.

 

[Rainbowlight]

May I ask if there's another Arabic word that's very similar (or maybe the same) to بطريق?

Wiktionary gives several variants of the word, which, when Latinized, read as (biṭrīq) m (plural بَطَارِيق‎ (baṭārīq) or بَطَارِقَة‎ (baṭāriqa).

I wonder if there is any other Arabic word/s that follow/s that same sequence of letters: B-T-R-Q. I'm sure there must be one.

As for the "patrician" meaning, it doesn't seem to make much sense. Maybe "noble" could offer a hint. Not literally, of course, but as a word that might have a N-B-L sequence.

Thanks in advance for your time and help. : )

 

[Mahaodeh]

Yes actually, there are a few more:
بطريق: a person that is proud and thinks highly of himself. I’m not sure but I think that this is derived from one of the other meanings.
بطريق: a Byzantine military rank, a leader that leads ten thousand men according to classical dictionaries. I don’t know it’s equivalent in English.
بطريق: A Jewish scholar (perhaps a level lower than or higher than a rabbi? Or perhaps it’s outdated)
بطريق: A Christian Cardinal (the rank above bishop). This one was used until at least the 1980s as I remember hearing it, but today, for some reason, I mostly hear بطريرك.
And of course the penguin.

They all seem to be borrowed, I’m just not sure if they were borrowed from a single word or the words were coincidentally similar.

 

[Rainbowlight]

Yes actually, there are a few more:
بطريق: a person that is proud and thinks highly of himself. I’m not sure but I think that this is derived from one of the other meanings.
بطريق: a Byzantine military rank, a leader that leads ten thousand men according to classical dictionaries. I don’t know it’s equivalent in English.
بطريق: A Jewish scholar (perhaps a level lower than or higher than a rabbi? Or perhaps it’s outdated)
بطريق: A Christian Cardinal (the rank above bishop). This one was used until at least the 1980s as I remember hearing it, but today, for some reason, I mostly hear بطريرك.
And of course the penguin.

They all seem to be borrowed, I’m just not sure if they were borrowed from a single word or the words were coincidentally similar.

There have been conjectures about the relationship between Italian, Latin and Spanish pingue (meaning "grease" or "fat") and the name "penguin". It is a well known fact that penguins, like whales or even olives, have always been prized for being rich in greasy matter. Maybe there's an Arabic word that follows the B-T-R-Q sequence and is somehow related to grease, fat, suet, talllow?

By the way, thanks for your earlier answer. It is indeed bizarre that a word so widespread as "penguin" (I'm talking about dozens and dozens of languages in several continents) has a different name in Arabic. I loved the name Cardinal ("bishop" would have been just as lovely) for it.