cachalot

English

Etymology

From French cachalot, from Portuguese cachalote, from cachola (“big head”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʃəlɒt/, /ˈkaʃələʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæ.ʃə.ˌlɑt/

Noun

cachalot (plural cachalots)

1. The sperm whale.
   • 2011 September 22, Richard Shelton, “Sheep, pig, whale”, in Times Literary Supplement:

     A flexible rib cage facilitates the collapse of the lungs of a diving cachalot (a synonym derived from an old French word for tooth), so reducing the nitrogen uptake which is responsible for decompression sickness in diving humans, while high levels of haemoglobin in the blood and myoglobin in the skeletal muscles carry the oxygen required to sustain long periods between breaths.

Translations

sperm whale — see sperm whale

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese cachalote, from cachola (“big head”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.ʃa.lo/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

cachalot m (plural cachalots)

1. sperm whale

Descendants

• → English: cachalot
• → Polish: kaszalot
  • → Kashubian: kaszalot
• → Romanian: cașalot
• → Russian: кашало́т (kašalót)
  • → Armenian: կաշալոտ (kašalot)
  • → Kazakh: кашалот (kaşalot)
  • → Kyrgyz: кашалот (kaşalot)

Further reading

• “cachalot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.