A cayman is a large meat-eating animal from Central and South America that lives in rivers, lakes, and swamps. It looks very much like an alligator: thick skin, a long body, a broad snout, and a lot of teeth.

A cayman cayman（凱門鱷） is a large meat-eating animal from Central and South America是一種來自中南美洲的大型肉食動物，that lives in rivers, lakes, and swamps棲息在河流、湖泊和沼澤裡。It looks very much like an alligator牠長得很像alligator（短吻鱷）：thick skin, a long body, a broad snout, and a lot of teeth厚皮、長長的身體、寬的口鼻，還有一口牙齒。

That picture is fair — they are close cousins — but a cayman is its own animal, and this is the name used for those South American kinds.

That picture is fair這個印象沒錯——they are close cousins牠們是近親——but a cayman is its own animal不過cayman是牠自己獨立的一種動物，and this is the name used for those South American kinds而這是南美洲那些種類的名稱。

You also see the spelling caiman; that is the same word, not a different creature.

You also see the spelling caiman你也會看到caiman這種拼法；that is the same word, not a different creature那是同一個字，不是不同的動物。

People meet it at zoos, in nature films, and in school books about wild animals. It is not a daily-life word.

People meet it at zoos, in nature films, and in school books about wild animals大家通常是在動物園、自然紀錄片，還有講野生動物的學校課本裡遇到牠。It is not a daily-life word這不是日常生活會用到的字。

The Cayman Islands in the Caribbean took a name from animals like this, but “a cayman” here is the creature, not the place.

The Cayman Islands in the Caribbean加勒比海的Cayman Islands（開曼群島）took a name from animals like this名字就是從這種動物來的，but "a cayman" here is the creature, not the place不過這裡講的"a cayman"是指這種動物，不是地名。