dolphin
pronunciation
How to pronounce dolphin in British English:
UK [ˈdɒlfɪn]
How to pronounce dolphin in American English:
US [ˈdɑːlfɪn]
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- Noun:
- large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)
- any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises
Word Origin
- dolphin
- dolphin: [13] The ultimate source of dolphin is Greek delphís ‘dolphin’, which some have linked with Greek delphýs ‘womb’. From it was derived delphīnion, a name given to the plant larkspur on account of the dolphin-like shape of part of its flower, acquired by English via Latin as delphinium [17]. Latin took over Greek delphís as delphīnus, which passed into English along two channels.The classical form was borrowed as delfyn or delphin, which did not survive the 17th century. But the Vulgar Latin form *dalphīnus progressed to Old French daulphin (ultimate source of English dauphin), which English acquired as dalphyn. Dolphin, first recorded in the 14th century, appears to be an English alteration of the form da(u)lphin.=> dauphin, delphinium
- dolphin (n.)
- mid-14c., from Old French daulphin, from Medieval Latin dolfinus, from Latin delphinus "dolphin," from Greek delphis (genitive delphinos) "dolphin," related to delphys "womb," perhaps via notion of the animal bearing live young, or from its shape, from PIE *gwelbh-. Popularly applied to the dorado from late 16c.
Example
- 1. A man riding a dolphin upon a belt buckle .
- 2. So , better I should focus on a dolphin or sea turtle instead .
- 3. It developed in near total isolation from any other species of dolphin or whale .
- 4. Water spews from the mouth of a golden dolphin statuette into an artificial lake .
- 5. A dolphin pod can find a dolphin pup lost in the ocean through its distress chirps .