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fin whale

fin whale

3 4.0
A large whale with a flat head, long body and small back fin found in the Atlantic and Pacific
  • noun
  • /fɪn weɪl/
translation icon : ballena de aleta
  • Conservationists are working hard to protect the endangered fin whale and its habitat.
  • blue and fin whales
  • fin whales and minke
  • fin whales and humpbacks

Examples

Synonyms

common rorqual
vsfin whale
9.0

A large whale that has a flat head and deep lines on its throat, often called the fin whale

is the everyday name rather than an alternate common name
Balaenoptera physalus
vsfin whale
  • Specialized
9.9

A very large whale with a flat head and deep lines on its throat found in many oceans

is the common everyday name instead of the formal Latin name
finback
vsfin whale
8.9

A very large whale with a flat head and deep grooves along its throat

is the more formal or full name rather than the brief common term
finback whale
vsfin whale
6.3

A large whale with baleen plates, a flat head, and throat ridges that lives in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

describes deep throat furrows rather than raised ridges

How Big

blue whale
211 1.4
fin whale
3 4.0
minke whale
  • Specialized
1 6.2
porpoise
13 4.1

Surface Forms

fin whale singular
fin whales plural

Morphology

fin + whale

The compound 'fin whale' is a straightforward noun-noun composition: a whale characterized by (or named after) its fins, so the overall meaning as a type/kind of whale is directly derivable from 'fin' + 'whale'. This kind of descriptive compounding is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand it refers to a particular species of whale.

Etymology

Fin whale gets its name from the long, thin fin on the whale's back, a clear, visible part people used to name the animal. So fin whale means the large kind of whale named for that fin.