Specimen in Malayalam
For a specimen or sample in the modern sense Malayalam usually borrows the English word and writes it സാമ്പിള് (saambil), which is what you hear in laboratories, shops and offices. It takes the English stress on the first syllable. A clinic asking for a specimen will use this word.
Sample, specimen.
കടക്കാരൻ ഒരു സാമ്പിള് തന്നു.
kadakkaaran oru saambil thannu.
The shopkeeper gave a sample.
All Malayalam words for “specimen”
- സാമ്പിള് (saambil) — Sample, specimen.
- പ്രതിമാനം (prathimanam) — Specimen, sample, image, idol, resemblance, picture, shadow, the space between the two tusks of an elephant, weight.
പ്രതിമാനം (prathimanam) is the older Sanskritic term and does mean specimen or sample, but it also carries image, idol, shadow and weight among its senses, so it is less precise in running speech.
Common questions
How do you say specimen in Malayalam?
In everyday use സാമ്പിള് (saambil), the borrowed word; in formal writing പ്രതിമാനം (prathimanam).
Why is prathimanam riskier in conversation?
പ്രതിമാനം (prathimanam) spreads over several meanings, from a sample to an idol to a shadow, so a listener may not land on the sense you intend.