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Glite Dictionary
Sayeret Mat'kal

Sayeret Mat'kal

9.9
A top Israeli special forces unit that rescues hostages and gathers information
  • proper noun
: Sayeret Mat'kal
  • The Sayeret Mat'kal conducted a daring rescue operation behind enemy lines.

Examples

  • Many of Israel's top military leaders served in Sayeret Mat'kal during their careers.

  • Did you know that Sayeret Mat'kal is known for its covert operations?

  • The reputation of Sayeret Mat'kal attracts recruits from across the country.

  • The Sayeret Mat'kal conducted a successful operation last night.

  • Many of Israel's top military leaders served in Sayeret Mat'kal during their careers.

  • The Sayeret Mat'kal conducted a daring rescue operation behind enemy lines.

  • The reputation of Sayeret Mat'kal attracts recruits from across the country.

Synonyms

Sayeret Matkal
vsSayeret Mat'kal
1 9.9

An Israeli special military unit that does secret missions like rescuing hostages and gathering information

focuses on intelligence gathering generally rather than specifically secret operations

Surface Forms

Sayeret Mat'kal main

Morphology

sayeret + Mat'kal

The element 'sayeret' transparently signals a specialized military/rescue unit, so a learner who knows that constituent would infer this is some kind of military unit. However 'Mat'kal' is a proper-name/abbreviation with no transparent lexical meaning, so the specific senses (elite status, counterterrorism, intelligence and hostage-rescue specialization) are not predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Sayeret Mat'kal comes from Hebrew words: Sayeret means 'reconnaissance' or 'scouting unit' and Mat'kal means 'general staff', the army's top leaders. So the name paints a picture of a small, top team that scouts for the army leaders, and that is why it refers to Israel's elite special forces who do secret missions and hostage rescues.