dolphin oil
- noun
- Archaic
:
aceite de delfín
- In the nineteenth century, watchmakers sometimes used dolphin oil to fine-tune gears and mechanisms.
Examples
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Before synthetic alternatives became common, dolphin oil was highly valued for its lubricating properties.
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The use of dolphin oil is now banned due to environmental and ethical concerns.
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Many people are unaware of the benefits of dolphin oil.
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Is dolphin oil still used in any products today?
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Before synthetic alternatives became common, dolphin oil was highly valued for its lubricating properties.
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In the nineteenth century, watchmakers sometimes used dolphin oil to fine-tune gears and mechanisms.
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The use of dolphin oil is now banned due to environmental and ethical concerns.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an oil obtained from dolphins' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'dolphin' (the animal) with 'oil' (a lubricant), indicating the substance's source. This source + noun compound is a regular compositional pattern in English and cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning even if the item is rare.
Etymology
The noun dolphin oil comes from a simple old practice: people boiled the fat of dolphins to make a smooth oil. Watchmakers and other craftsmen used a little of this oil to keep gears moving, so the name came to mean 'a fine lubricant'.
