Number: 2555
Proto-Semitic: *zīz-
Meaning: kind of insect
Akkadian: zizānu (sisānu) SB 'eine Grille' [AHw. 1534], sisânu (zizānu) 'a locust' [CAD s 321]. In lexical lists and omina (tibût zi-za-ni 'locust attack'), see [Landsberger Fauna 123]. Note that the spelling with SI is unique against several examples written with ZI.
Hebrew: zīz 'the small creatures that ruin the fields' [KB 268], pB. 'spider; name of a fabulous bird' [Ja. 393]. Attested twice in Psalms in the combination zīz ŝāday 'z. of the field': yādaʕtī kol-ʕōp hārīm // wǝzīz ŝāday ʕimmādī 'I know all the birds of the mountain // and z. of the field is with me' in 50.11 and yǝkarsǝmännā ḥăzīr miyyaʕar // wǝzīz ŝāday yirʕännā 'forest boar eats it // and z. of the field feeds on it' in 80.14. None of these passages provides direct evidence for the meaning 'kind of worm/insect'.
Judaic Aramaic: zīzā 'name of a mite in lentils; spider; name of a fabulous bird' [Ja. 393], 'Wurm, Milbe' [Levy WT 218].
Arabic: zīz- (pl. zīzān-) 'cigale' [BK 1 1032], [Dozy I 618-9] ("un mot berbère").
Gurage: Wol. zizo, Sel. zīzo 'May bug' [LGur. 719]. According to Leslau, to be united with forms of the ǝnzǝz-type in other Gurage languages, to be compared further to Tna. ḥǝnžiž, Amh. ǝnzǝz. For an alternative approach to such forms cf. No. ... .
Notes: [DRS 723], [KB 268]: Hbr., Arm., Arb., Akk.
