sperm whale

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [spurm hweyl, weyl]
- /spɜrm ʰweɪl, weɪl/
- /spɜːm weɪl/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [spurm hweyl, weyl]
- /spɜrm ʰweɪl, weɪl/

Definitions of sperm whale words

noun sperm whale a large, square-snouted whale, Physeter catodon, valued for its oil and spermaceti: now reduced in number and rare in some areas. 1
noun sperm whale huge sea mammal 1
countable noun sperm whale A sperm whale is a large whale with a large head that has a section in it which contains oil. 0
noun sperm whale a large toothed whale, Physeter catodon, having a square-shaped head and hunted for sperm oil, spermaceti, and ambergris: family Physeteridae 0
noun sperm whale any of a family (Physeteridae) of toothed whales; esp., a large species (Physeter catodon) inhabiting warm seas: a closed cavity in its roughly square head contains sperm oil 0

See all 5 definitions of sperm whale

Information block about the term

Origin of sperm whale

First appearance:

before 1825

One of the 37% newest English words

First recorded in 1825-35

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Sperm whale

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Sperm whale

sperm whale popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 39% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 55% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

sperm whale usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer