balẽa

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See also: balea and baleá

Old Galician-Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Latin ballaena, variant of bālaena (a whale), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (to inflate, blow, swell), from *bʰel- (to bloom).

Cognate with Old Spanish ballena and Mozarabic balléna.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

balẽa f

  1. whale
  2. a large marine fish

Descendants[edit]

  • Galician: balea
  • Portuguese: baleia (see there for further descendants)

Further reading[edit]