shakhidka

shakhidka
 n.— «You won’t find it in any Russian dictionary, but a single word dominates newspaper headlines and conversations in the street after two weeks of bombings and mayhem: shakhidka, or female Islamist suicide bomber. A mix of the Arabic word shaheed (martyr) and the Russian female suffix “ka,” a literal translation might be female martyr.» —“Russians adapt Arabic to describe women bombers” by Michael Steen in Moscow Reuters Sept. 7, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Alligator Mouth (episode #1620)

Kinbank is a new database that illustrates the global diversity of family terms. English, for example, specifies sibling relationships with just one of two terms: sister or brother. But most other languages have even more specific terms. In...