Tiger in Malayalam
കടുവ (kaduva) is the tiger, the striped cat of the Western Ghats forests, and the word every child in Kerala learns early. Three light syllables with a soft dental in the middle. Folklore, football chants and film titles are full of it.
Most common translation
Tiger. The striped wild cat of the forest.
കാട്ടിൽ കടുവ ഉണ്ട്.
kattil kaduva undu.
There are tigers in the forest.
All Malayalam words for “tiger”
- കടുവ (kaduva) — Tiger. The striped wild cat of the forest.
- നരി (nari) — Jackal, tiger, flying fox.
- നെടുവരിയന് (neduvariyan) — A wild animal, tiger.
- പുലിവാല് (pulival) — Tiger's tail; (idm.) a difficulty which one can neither avoid nor face (like holding a tiger by its tail around a tree).
നരി (nari) is primarily the jackal and only loosely a tiger, so it is a poor choice; പുലിവാല് (pulival) is the tiger's tail, an idiom for a problem you can neither drop nor face.
Common questions
How do you say tiger in Malayalam?
കടുവ (kaduva) is the word for the animal.
What does the idiom പുലിവാല് (pulival) mean?
It is holding a tiger by the tail, a mess you cannot escape and cannot fight.