Wal

Meaning

whale

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/vaːl/

Etymology

The root descends from Middle High German and Old High German wal, from Proto-West Germanic *hwal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”). Cognates include English whale, German Low German Waal, Icelandic hvalur, Danish hval, Swedish val.
Although the simplex root also existed in earlier historical stages of German, Grimm claims that the simplex had fallen out of used by Early New High German and was used exclusively in the compounds such as Walfisch and Narwal. The simplex later reappeared in the course of the 19th century, at first in the domain of scientific literature, as a back-formation from Walfisch. Compare also Dutch walvis, Low German Waalfisch.