Etymology
The generic name Varanus is derived from the Arabic word waral ورل, (alternative spelling waran). The name comes from a common Semitic root ouran, waran, or waral meaning "lizard". The occasional habit of varanids to stand on their two hind legs and to appear to "monitor" their surroundings has been suggested to have led to this name, as it was Latinized into Varanus. Its common name is derived from the Latin word monere meaning "to warn".
In Malay / Indonesian Language varanids are called biawak. In Tamil and Malayalam, monitor lizards are known as udumbu, ghorpad घोरपड in Marathi, uda in Kannada, in Sinhalese as kabaragoya, in Telugu as Udumu, in Punjabi and Magahi (and other Bihari languages) as goh, in Assamese as "Gui Xaap" and in Bengali as goshaap or guishaap. Due to confusion with the large New World lizards of the family Iguanidae, the lizards became known as "goannas" in Australia. Similarly, in South Africa they are referred to as leguaan, from the Dutch for iguana. The generic name inspired the name of the Japanese movie monster Varan.
Read more about this topic: Monitor Lizard
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