طفيل

Diminutive of طِفْل‎ (ṭifl, “little child”), though in the sense of “parasite” perhaps a backformation from the commoner adjective طُفَيْلِيّ‎ (ṭufayliyy). Ancient Arabic lexicographers explained this sense as being derived from the name of a certain man called Ṭufayl, who, among the ancient Arabs, used to gatecrash feasts. However, a derivation directly from the diminutive sense might also make sense. Hebrew טַפִּיל‎ (tapil, “parasite”) is a 19th-century invention based on the Arabic word.

طُفَيْل • (ṭufayl) m

1. (biology) parasite
2. Diminutive of طِفْل‎ (ṭifl, “little child”)

• عِلْم الطُفَيْلِيَّات‎ (ʕilm aṭ-ṭufayliyyāt, “parasitology”)
• طُفَيْل الطُفِيلِى‎ (“hyperparasite”)
• طُفَيْل خَارِجِيّ‎ (ṭufayl ḵārijiyy, “ectoparasite”)
• طُفَيْل دَاخِلِيّ‎ (ṭufayl dāḵiliyy, “endoparasite”)
• ّطُفَيْل مِيكْرُوسْكُوبِي‎ (“microparasite”)
• طُفَيْل إِجْبَارِيّ‎ (ṭufayl ʔijbāriyy, “obligate parasite”)
• ّطُفَيْل نَصْفِي‎ (“hemiparasite”)
• طُفَيْل حَيَوَانِيّ‎ (ṭufayl ḥayawāniyy, “zooparasite”)
• طُفَيْل دَمَوِيّ‎ (ṭufayl damawiyy, “hematozoon”)
• طُفَيْل مَعَوِي‎ (ṭufayl maʕawī, “enterozoon”)
• ّمَرَض طُفَيْلِي‎ (“parasitic disease”)