narwhal

[ nahr-wuhl ]

noun

1. a small Arctic whale, Monodon monoceros, the male of which has a long, spirally twisted tusk extending forward from the upper jaw.

narwhal

/ ˈnɑːˌweɪl; ˈnɑːwəl /

noun

1. an arctic toothed whale, Monodon monoceros, having a black-spotted whitish skin and, in the male, a long spiral tusk: family Monodontidae

Other Words From

• nar·whal·i·an [nahr-, hwey, -lee-, uh, n, -, wey, -, -, wol, -ee-], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of narwhal¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian, Swedish, Danish nar(h)val, reshaped from Old Norse nāhvalr, equivalent to nār “corpse” + hvalr whale ¹; allegedly so called because its skin resembles that of a human corpse

Word History and Origins

Origin of narwhal¹

C17: of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish, Norwegian narhval, from Old Norse nāhvalr, from nār corpse + hvalr whale, from its white colour, supposed to resemble a human corpse

Example Sentences

In seven years on The Times’s National Desk, I wrote about everything from natural disasters to narwhals.

From New York Times

Menopause is known to exist in five species of toothed whale: short-finned pilot whales, false killer whales, killer whales, narwhals and beluga whales.

From Science Daily

They found females of five "menopausal" species - narwhals and beluga, short-finned pilot, false killer and killer whales - lived about four decades longer than other toothed whales.

From BBC

Five whale species — killer whales, false killer whales, beluga whales, short-finned pilot whales and narwhals — don’t fit that pattern.

From New York Times

An extended version of the ad also features a talking narwhal.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• mammal
• porpoise