galerous

Old French

Etymology

Seems to be borrowed from an unattested, inverted form of Old Norse hrosshvalr (literally “horse whale”), whence Danish hvalros, German Walross and English walrus.

Noun

galerous oblique singular, m (oblique plural galerous, nominative singular galerous, nominative plural galerous)

1. walrus
   • late 12th century, anonymous author, “La Folie de Tristan de Berne”, in Le Roman de Tristan, Champion Classiques edition, →ISBN, page 310, lines 157–8:

     Qui t'engendra? — Uns galerous
     — De que t'ot il? — D'une balaine

     — Who is your father? — A walrus
     — Who did he have you with? — A whale (Tristan is deliberately speaking nonsense in this passage in order to pass for a harmless madman)

Usage notes

• The usage above seems to be the only known usage of the term.