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Glite Dictionary
Sayeret Matkal

Sayeret Matkal

1 9.9
An Israeli special military unit that does secret missions like rescuing hostages and gathering information
  • proper noun
: Sayeret Matkal
  • News of the rescue mission credited Sayeret Matkal with saving dozens of hostages.

Examples

  • The Sayeret Matkal is renowned for its high-risk operations behind enemy lines.

  • He was selected to join Sayeret Matkal after a rigorous training process.

  • The Sayeret Matkal is known for its rigorous training.

  • Did you hear about the Sayeret Matkal operation last week?

  • The elite soldiers of Sayeret Matkal executed a precision hostage rescue mission in a dangerous region.

  • During the raid, Sayeret Matkal successfully neutralized the terrorist threats without any casualties.

  • The Israeli government often relies on Sayeret Matkal for covert intelligence gathering in volatile areas.

Synonyms

Sayeret Mat'kal
vsSayeret Matkal
9.9

A top Israeli special forces unit that rescues hostages and gathers information

emphasizes covert intelligence gathering rather than general intelligence

Surface Forms

Sayeret Matkal main

Morphology

sayeret + Matkal

This is a language-specific proper name: although 'sayeret' denotes a military unit, 'Matkal' is not lexicalized here and the full phrase refers to a particular Israeli unit with specific functions (elite counterterrorism and intelligence) that cannot be derived from the parts. Proper names and unit acronyms are not compositionally predictable across languages, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not recover the full meaning.

Etymology

Sayeret Matkal comes from Hebrew words: Sayeret means 'scout' and Matkal is short for the army 'General Staff' that sends the unit. The name gives the image of a small, top team sent by army leaders for secret scouting, rescuing hostages, and other risky missions, so it now means Israel's elite special forces unit.