porpoise
UK /ˈpɔːpəs/ · US /ˈpɔːɹpəs/ noun, verb
Forms porpoises porpoising porpoised
- noun A small cetacean of the family Phocoenidae, related to dolphins and whales.
- noun (Canada, US, loosely) Any small dolphin.
- verb (intransitive) Said of an air-breathing aquatic animal such as a porpoise or penguin: To repeatedly jump out of the water to take a breath and dive back in a continuous motion.
- verb (intransitive) Said of an aircraft: to make a series of plunges when taking off or landing; or of a watercraft: to successively plunge up and down in the water.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English porpeys, purpeys, borrowed from Anglo-Norman porpeis, purpeis, Old French pourpois, porpois, pourpais, porpeis (“porpoise”), from Vulgar Latin *porcopiscis (“porpoise”, literally “hog-fish”), taken from Latin porcus (“hog, pig”) + piscis (“fish”). Compare (in transposed order) obsolete Italian pesce porco and Portuguese peixe porco; also Latin porcus marīnus (“sea hog”); akin in formation to Frankish *mariswīn (“porpoise, dolphin”) (whence German Meerschwein, English mereswine). Displaced native Middle English brunswyn. More at mereswine.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any small cetacean of the genus Phocæna, especially P. communis, or P. phocæna, of Europe, and the closely allied American species (P. Americana). The color is dusky or blackish above, paler beneath. They are closely allied to the dolphins, but have a shorter snout. Called also harbor porpoise, herring hag, puffing pig, and snuffer.
- noun A true dolphin (Delphinus); --often so called by sailors.
Etymology [OE. porpeys, OF. porpeis, literally, hog fish, from L. porcus swine + piscis fish. See Pork, and Fish.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “porpoise”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details