lesser rorqual
- noun
- /ˈlɛsər ˈrɔrkwəl/
- Specialized
:
ballena minke
- We spotted a lesser rorqual surfacing near the coast during our whale-watching tour.
Examples
-
Unlike the larger blue whale, the lesser rorqual is more commonly seen near shorelines.
-
The lesser rorqual is often seen near the coast.
-
Marine biologists tracked a lesser rorqual as it migrated south for the winter.
-
Many lesser rorquals migrate during the summer months.
-
Marine biologists tracked a lesser rorqual as it migrated south for the winter.
-
We spotted a lesser rorqual surfacing near the coast during our whale-watching tour.
-
Unlike the larger blue whale, the lesser rorqual is more commonly seen near shorelines.
Synonyms
1
6.2
A small whale with a dark, smooth body and a small fin on its back
A small whale that swims near coasts and eats small sea animals using filter plates
A small whale that lives near coasts, like the minke whale
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'lesser' means smaller and 'rorqual' denotes a type of baleen whale, so 'lesser rorqual' straightforwardly refers to a smaller species/individual of that whale. This adjective+noun pattern is a standard, cross-linguistically common way to form species or size distinctions, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning even if they do not know the specific name 'minke whale'.
Etymology
The name lesser rorqual may come from an old Norwegian word that links rorqual to a 'pipe' because of the whale's throat folds. The word rorqual points to the long folds on the whale's throat that open like a folded bag when it feeds, and lesser means 'smaller', so the name pictures a small whale with folding throat grooves.