cetacean

C2+ Topic:Animals

US /sɪˈteɪʃən/ UK /sɪˈteɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a marine mammal of the order including whales, dolphins, and porpoises

The bay is a feeding ground for several cetacean species.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a marine mammal of the... whale dolphin porpoise

Word family

Forms cetaceous

Related forms cetology

Etymology

From Latin cetus ('whale, large sea creature'), from Greek ketos ('sea monster, whale') + -acean.

cetus Latin ketos Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# cetacean

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /sɪˈteɪʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /sɪˈteɪʃən/

## Meanings
1. a marine mammal of the order including whales, dolphins, and porpoises

## Examples
- The bay is a feeding ground for several cetacean species.

## Synonyms
- whale
- dolphin
- porpoise

## Related Forms
- cetology

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cetus
- Root: ketos

## Etymology
From Latin cetus ('whale, large sea creature'), from Greek ketos ('sea monster, whale') + -acean.

## AI Etymology
Cetacean comes from Latin cetus ('whale, large sea creature'), from Greek ketos ('sea monster, whale') + -acean. The historical trail runs through cetus in Latin and ketos in Ancient Greek. Morphologically, cetacean is transparent: it draws on Latin cetus ('whale, large sea creature'), from Greek ketos ('sea monster, whale') + -acean. Used as a noun and adjective, cetacean now means "a marine mammal of the order including whales, dolphins, and porpoises", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as cetology. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Animals
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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