baleen
pronunciation
How to pronounce baleen in British English:
UK [bə'li:n]
How to pronounce baleen in American English:
US [bə'lin]
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- Noun:
- a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets
Word Origin
- baleen (n.)
- early 14c., "whalebone," from Old French balaine (12c.) "whale, whalebone," from Latin ballaena, from Greek phallaina "whale" (apparently related to phallos "swollen penis," probably because of a whale's shape), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). Klein writes that the Greek to Latin transition was "through the medium of the Illyrian language, a fact which explains the transition of Gk. -ph- into Latin -b- (instead of -p-)."
Example
- 1. Baleen whales often appear in this region . Be careful !
- 2. And of course , the food is caught in the baleen .
- 3. Shrimp-like planktonic crustaceans ; major source of food for e.g. baleen .
- 4. The little shellfish is eaten by baleen whales , salmon , herring and various seabirds .
- 5. Unlike orca , which are odontocetes or toothed whales , humpbacks are mysticetes , harmless leviathans with only baleen plates in their mouths .