Thunnus thynnus
- noun
- Specialized
:
atún rojo
- Scientists have tagged several Thunnus thynnus to track their migration patterns across the Atlantic.
Examples
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The Thunnus thynnus is highly prized for sushi and sashimi in Japanese cuisine.
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Overfishing has caused a dramatic decline in wild Thunnus thynnus populations.
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Wow! That Thunnus thynnus was enormous!
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The Thunnus thynnus is known for its impressive size.
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Overfishing has caused a dramatic decline in wild Thunnus thynnus populations.
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Scientists have tagged several Thunnus thynnus to track their migration patterns across the Atlantic.
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The Thunnus thynnus is highly prized for sushi and sashimi in Japanese cuisine.
Synonyms
3
5.7
A very large tuna that lives in cool seas and is caught to sell
1
3.2
A very large sea fish found in cool seas and often caught for food
Surface Forms
Morphology
Thunnus + thynnus
This is a scientific Latin binomial (genus + species) rather than a compositional English phrase; the constituents are proper names (one is a taxonomic genus, the other is not even listed as an English word), so their literal meanings do not signal ‘Atlantic bluefin tuna.’ A B1 learner who merely knows the constituent tokens would not be able to derive the common species meaning without knowledge of taxonomic naming or this specific species, making it non-compositional for learners.
Etymology
Thunnus thynnus is the two-word scientific name for the Atlantic bluefin tuna and may come from an old Greek word for 'tuna'. The same word twice is like saying 'tuna of tunas', a simple picture that shows this is the main, very large, and much-valued tuna, which helps you remember the name.