Etymology

Gaddafi

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Today it means: A transliteration of the Arabic surname القَذَّافِيّ (al-qaḏḏāfiyy). Full definition →

Libyan Arabic قدافي ← Arabic قَذَّافِيّ
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromقَذَّافِيّ
  2. Libyan Arabic · borrowed fromقدافي
  3. English todayGaddafi

From Libyan Arabic قدافي (gaddāfi, gaḏḏāfi), from Arabic قَذَّافِيّ (qaḏḏāfiyy), an occupational term from قَذَّاف (qaḏḏāf, “hurler, flinger; catapult, mangonel, ballista”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.