walvis

Meaning

whale, mammal of the order Cetacea

Concepts

whale

cetacean

Hyphenated as

wal‧vis

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʋɑl.vɪs/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch walvisch, from Old Dutch walvisk, from *wal (“whale”), presumably to clarify the meaning. Equivalent to wal (“whale”) + vis (“fish”). Old Dutch *wal is from Proto-West Germanic *hwal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”). See also waldier, walrus, grindewal.
Cognate with West Frisian walfisk, German Walfisch. The simple form is cognate with German Wal, English whale, Danish hval, Swedish val.