A very specified anatomic meaning is similar in Arb. and Tgr. ḥəlil. It may be alternatively explained by an Arabism in Tgr., in which case the Arb. term, possibly with
an original meaning ‘opening’ or ‘canaľ without any anatomic connotations, should
be compared to Akk. ḫālilu (ḫalīlu) ‘a kind of canal or ditch’ SB [CAD ḫ 42] and Syr.
ḥəlīlā ‘rima; caverna; tubus’ [Brock. 232]. But in view of difference in meaning and pattern, pace Syr. ḥeltā ‘vagina’ and
Tgr. ḥəletät ‘penis’ are hardly Arabisms ([Leslau Loanwords 166]). They can be as well compared to each other and to Arb.
‘canal of the penis’ still making a Sem. anatomic term with a possible meaning ‘canal
of the genital organ’.