צִי ᴵᴵ m.n. (pl. צִיִּים) wild animals (living in deserts). [Of uncertain origin. According to some scholars it is related to Arab. ḍayuwan (= wild cat). According to other scholars it is a contraction of צָוֵי, which is related to Arab. ṣawā(y) (= he cried), hence lit. meaning ‘crier’. Some scholars see in צִי ᴵᴵ a back formation from צִיָּה (= desert), so that צִי would lit. mean ‘desert dweller’.]