walrus

[ wawl-ruhs, wol- ]

noun

, plural wal·rus·es, (especially collectively) wal·rus.

1. a large marine mammal, Odobenus nosmarus, of Arctic seas, related to the seals, and having flippers, a pair of large tusks, and a tough, wrinkled skin.

walrus

/ ˈwɔːlrəs; ˈwɒl- /

noun

1. a pinniped mammal, Odobenus rosmarus, of northern seas, having a tough thick skin, upper canine teeth enlarged as tusks, and coarse whiskers and feeding mainly on shellfish: family Odobenidae

Word History and Origins

Origin of walrus¹

First recorded in 1645–55; from Dutch: literally, “whale horse”; cognate with German Walross, Danish hvalros; compare Old English horshwæl “horse-whale”

Word History and Origins

Origin of walrus¹

C17: probably from Dutch, from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hrosshvalr (literally: horse whale) and Old English horschwæl; see horse , whale

Example Sentences

Before it’s over, we’ll see grizzly bears, moose, elephants, walruses, rhinos and more — an amalgam of the more than 75 detailed habitat displays that are at the heart of the museum’s exhibits.

From Los Angeles Times

Aside from a handful of walruses and polar bears, the crew are entirely alone.

From BBC

Imagine a walrus-like creature with dentition remarkably similar to modern walruses: A quartet of post-canine teeth, a large lower canine tooth and a short, fused vertical midline on their lower jaw.

From Salon

It killed hundreds of sea lions and walruses, but also began to kill house cats and other wild animals.

From Salon

Ceballos wears a tangle of walrus beads over his tie-dye Grateful Dead T-shirt.

From Los Angeles Times

What Is The Plural Of Walrus?

Plural word for walrus

The plural form of walrus is walruses.  The plurals of several other singular words ending in -us are also formed in this way, such as virus/viruses, sinus/sinuses, and syllabus/syllabuses.

In some words derived from Latin that end in -us, the irregular plural ending -i may be used instead, as in fungus/fungi and cactus/cacti. However, this ending is not valid for walrus. Walri would be an invalid plural form for walrus.

More About Walrus

Where does the word walrus come from?

The walrus is, no doubt, a funny-looking animal. It’s got a droopy, hangdog kind of face, grumpy-old-man whiskers, and two ludicrous-looking tusks. (No offense to any walruses who may be reading this.)

So, it seems fitting that walrus also has a funny origin story: it may literally mean “whale-horse.” Well, that’s a theory.

The origins of the word walrus are disputed. In fact, the writer of the famous Lord of the Rings books, J. R. R. Tolkien, came up with no fewer than six different possible origins of the word.

Anyway, even if it’s not entirely true, the story goes that walrus comes from Dutch. Walvis means “whale” and ros means “horse.” Combine it all together and a walrus is a “whale-horse.” Which, if you look at this wonderful animal, seems like a fitting name for it.

The roots of these other words may get a rise—of laughter or surprise—out of you too. Run on over to our roundup of them at “Weird Word Origins That Will Make Your Family Laugh.”

Did you know … ?

• The walrus’s tusks aren’t just for show: they use them to fend off predators, and the top males are the ones with the longest tusks.
  • You can even tell how old a walrus is based on its tusks.
• Walrus tusks also help tell them apart from the similar animals of seals and sea lions, if these groups of animals confuse you.
• The word walrus only has one L and one S, so watch out for misspelling it as “wallrus” or “walruss.”
  The walrus’s whiskers are so memorable that a person with a droopy moustache is said to have a walrus moustache.

The wal– in walrus shares a background with the whal– in narwhal, an animal that the walrus often shares a habitat with. The wal- in walrus is also related to the word whale, another marine mammal.