baleen
/bəˈliːn/ noun
Forms baleens
- noun (physiology, uncountable) keratinous material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale (Mysticeti), which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.
- noun (zoology, countable) A baleen whale (Mysticeti).
- noun (obsolete) Any whale or large fish.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English baleyne, from Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina, “whale”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balænoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.
Etymology [F. baleine whale and whalibone, L. balaena a whale; cf. Gr. .]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “baleen”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details