תחש

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ת־ח־שׁ (t-kh-sh)
1 term

Compare Arabic دُخَس (duḵas). In the “badger” sense, a phono-semantic matching of German Dachs.

Pronunciation

Noun

תַּחַשׁ • (tákhash) m

  1. (Biblical Hebrew) a kind of animal whose skin was used for the outer coverings of the tabernacle
  2. (Modern Israeli Hebrew) sea cow
  3. (historical, obsolete) badger
  4. (Modern Israeli Hebrew) dachshund, from a clipping of כֶּלֶב תַּחַשׁ (kéleḇ taḥáš)
    Synonym: דָּקֶל (dákel, dā́qēl)

Usage notes

  • Most scholars agree that the term likely referred to sea cows, based on local bedouins' use of sea cow skins for similar purposes to the ones mentioned in the Bible. But some translators believe the term might have referred to the skin's color rather than the animal it was sourced from.

References

  • “תחש” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

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