cachalot
English
editEtymology
editFrom French cachalot, from Portuguese cachalote, from cachola (“big head”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editcachalot (plural cachalots)
- The sperm whale.
- 2011 September 22, Richard Shelton, “Sheep, pig, whale”, in Times Literary Supplement:
- A flexible rib cage facilitates the collapse of the lungs of a diving cachalot (a synonym derived from an old French word for tooth), so reducing the nitrogen uptake which is responsible for decompression sickness in diving humans, while high levels of haemoglobin in the blood and myoglobin in the skeletal muscles carry the oxygen required to sustain long periods between breaths.
Translations
editsperm whale — see sperm whale
French
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Portuguese cachalote, from cachola (“big head”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editcachalot m (plural cachalots)
Descendants
edit- → English: cachalot
- → Polish: kaszalot
- → Kashubian: kaszalot
- → Romanian: cașalot
- → Russian: кашало́т (kašalót)
Further reading
edit- “cachalot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Portuguese
- English 3-syllable words
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- en:Whales
- French terms borrowed from Portuguese
- French terms derived from Portuguese
- French 3-syllable words
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- fr:Whales