wieloryb

🐳

Meaning

whale (large sea mammal)

Frequency

Hyphenated as

wie‧lo‧ryb

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/vjɛˈlɔ.rɨp/

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *velьrybъ, a partial calque of Middle High German walvisch, affected by Proto-Slavic *velьjь (“great”), hence literally “great fish” or “giant fish”. A modern speaker would instead analyse it as wiele (“many”) + ryba (“fish”).