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cetacean

ce·ta·cean
C c

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [si-tey-shuh n]
    • /sɪˈteɪ ʃən/
    • /sɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [si-tey-shuh n]
    • /sɪˈteɪ ʃən/

Definitions of cetacean word

  • countable noun cetacean Cetaceans are animals such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. 3
  • adjective cetacean of, relating to, or belonging to the Cetacea, an order of aquatic placental mammals having no hind limbs and a blowhole for breathing: includes toothed whales (dolphins, porpoises, etc) and whalebone whales (rorquals, right whales, etc) 3
  • noun cetacean a whale 3
  • noun cetacean in some systems of classification, any of an order (Cetacea) of nearly hairless, fishlike water mammals, lacking external hind limbs, but having paddlelike forelimbs, including whales, porpoises, and dolphins 3
  • adjective cetacean of the cetaceans 3
  • adjective cetacean belonging to the Cetacea, an order of aquatic, chiefly marine mammals, including the whales and dolphins. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of cetacean

First appearance:

before 1830
One of the 36% newest English words
1830-40; < New Latin Cetace(a) name of the order (see cet-, -acea) + -an

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Cetacean

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

cetacean popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 85% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

cetacean usage trend in Literature

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Synonyms for cetacean

noun cetacean

  • mammal — any vertebrate of the class Mammalia, having the body more or less covered with hair, nourishing the young with milk from the mammary glands, and, with the exception of the egg-laying monotremes, giving birth to live young.
  • whale — any of the larger marine mammals of the order Cetacea, especially as distinguished from the smaller dolphins and porpoises, having a fishlike body, forelimbs modified into flippers, and a head that is horizontally flattened.
  • grampus — a cetacean, Grampus griseus, of the dolphin family, widely distributed in northern seas.
  • dolphin — any of several chiefly marine, cetacean mammals of the family Delphinidae, having a fishlike body, numerous teeth, and the front of the head elongated into a beaklike projection.
  • beluga — a large white sturgeon, Acipenser (or Huso) huso, of the Black and Caspian Seas: a source of caviar and isinglass

Top questions with cetacean

  • what does cetacean mean?
  • what is a cetacean?
  • how to pronounce cetacean?
  • what is cetacean?

See also

Matching words

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