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Glite Dictionary
sei whale

sei whale

1 7.9
A large ocean whale that eats small animals by filtering water
  • noun
  • /seɪ waɪl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ballena sei
  • Researchers have found that the sei whale primarily feeds on small schooling fish and zooplankton.

Examples

  • Many tourists flock to see the majestic sei whale during the annual migration in the Pacific Ocean.

  • The sei whale is known for its impressive speed and streamlined body, making it one of the fastest baleen whales.

  • Blue whales, fin whales, and sei whales were gradually pushed toward extinction, and the whaling industry collapsed under the weight of its own foolishness.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

Balaenoptera borealis
vssei whale
  • Specialized
9.9

A large fast whale similar to the fin whale but smaller

is the common name used in everyday speech and general contexts

Surface Forms

sei whale singular
sei whales plural

Morphology

sei + whale

The element 'sei' is not a productive English lexical item but a taxonomic/proper name (no dictionary definition provided), so knowing 'whale' only yields the general category (a large marine mammal) and not the specific species sense or properties. Because the specific meaning (a particular baleen whale species) cannot be derived from the constituent words by a B1 learner, the expression is idiomatic/nominal and therefore opaque.

Etymology

Sei whale: The name sei whale comes from the Norwegian word sei, which is a common fish; sailors saw the whales where that fish lived, so they named the whale after it. That's why the name today refers to this particular whale species.