caiman

See also: Caiman, caimán, and caïman

English

A spectacled caiman

Alternative forms

• cayman

Etymology

From Spanish caimán or Portuguese caimão, from Kari'na acayouman.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪ.mən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪmən

Noun

caiman (plural caimans)

1. (strictly) Any of the relatively small crocodilians of the genus Caiman, within the family Alligatoridae.
   • 1995, Laurie Agopian, Extended Thematic Unit: Rain Forest, page 32:

     Caimans are reptiles that are closely related to their Central and South American neighbors, the alligators. Adult caimans are usually four to six feet (1.8 m) in length.

   • 2002, International Wildlife Encyclopedia: Brown bear - Cheetah, 3rd Edition, page 358,

     The caimans are found in South America, mainly in the Amazon basin, with one species extending into the southern part of Mexico and another reaching northern parts of Argentina.

   • 2010, Carrol L. Henderson, Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, page 164:

     Newly hatched caimans eat insects. Young caimans are eaten by Jabirus, Wood Storks, Great Egrets, and raccoons. Adult caimans have no predators except human poachers.

2. (loosely) A crocodilian of the subfamily Caimaninae, which includes the very large black caiman.
3. A semi-aquatic lizard, of the genus Dracaena, found in South America. To differentiate from caimans, they are referred to as caiman lizards.

Derived terms

• caiman lizard
• Cayman Islands
• Cuvier's dwarf caiman
• spectacled caiman
• yacare caiman

 

Translations

alligator relative

• Arabic: كَيَامِن m (kayāmin), كَيْمَن m (kayman)
• Basque: kaiman
• Belarusian: кайма́н m (kajmán)
• Bulgarian: кайма́н m (kajmán)
• Catalan: caiman m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凱門鱷／凯门鳄 (zh) (kǎimén'è)

• Classical Nahuatl: cipactli
• Czech: kajman m
• Dutch: kaaiman (nl) m
• Esperanto: kajmano
• Estonian: kaiman
• Finnish: kaimaani (fi)
• French: caïman (fr) m
• Georgian: კაიმანი (ḳaimani)
• German: Kaiman (de) m
• Hindi: कैमान (kaimān)
• Italian: caimano (it) m
• Japanese: カイマン (ja) (kaiman)
• Kari'na: akare (Caiman crocodilus), akare'u (Paleosuchus trigonatus)
• Kazakh: кайман (kaiman)
• Korean: 카이만 (kaiman)
• Kyrgyz: кайман (kayman)
• Macedonian: кајман m (kajman)
• Navajo: bitseeʼ yee adiłhałii yázhí
• Norwegian: kaiman (no)
• Persian: کیمن (kayman)
• Polish: kajman (pl) m
• Portuguese: caimão m
• Romanian: caiman (ro) m
• Russian: кайма́н (ru) m (kajmán)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кајман m

  Roman: kajman (sh) m

• Slovak: kajman m
• Slovene: kajman (sl) m
• Spanish: caimán (es) m, yacaré (es) m, taludín m
• Sranan Tongo: kaiman
• Thai: เคแมน
• Trió: ariwe
• Turkish: kayman
• Ukrainian: кайма́н (uk) m (kajmán)
• Uzbek: kayman
• Vietnamese: cá sấu (vi)
• Yucatec Maya: áayin

See also

• alligator, gator
• crocodile, croc
• gavial, gharial

Further reading

• caiman on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• -maniac, Mancia, mancia, maniac

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish caimán, from Kari'na acayuman.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kəjˈman]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kajˈman]
• Rhymes: -an

Noun

caiman m (plural caimans)

1. caiman

Derived terms

• caiman d'ulleres
• llangardaix caiman

 

Further reading

• “caiman” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French caïman.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kajˈman/
• Hyphenation: cai‧man

Noun

caiman m (plural caimani)

1. caiman

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	caiman	caimanul		caimani	caimanii
genitive-dative	caiman	caimanului		caimani	caimanilor
vocative	caimanule			caimanilor