beluga

[ buh-loo-guh ]

noun

1. Also called hausen. a white sturgeon, Huso huso, of the Black and Caspian seas, valued as a source of caviar and isinglass.
2. Also called sea canary, white whale. a cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas, of northern seas, that has a rounded head and is white when adult.

beluga

/ bɪˈluːɡə /

noun

1. a large white sturgeon, Acipenser (or Huso ) huso , of the Black and Caspian Seas: a source of caviar and isinglass
2. another name for white whale

Word History and Origins

Origin of beluga¹

1585–95; < Russian belúga (now regularly belúkha for the cetacean), equivalent to bél ( yĭ ) white + -uga, probably earlier *-ǫga (compare Czech pstruh, Polish pstrąg trout < *pĭstr- mottled + *-ǫgŭ a cognate suffix)

Word History and Origins

Origin of beluga¹

C18: from Russian byeluga , from byely white

Example Sentences

There are projects now to build sanctuaries for killer whales and belugas and dolphins, but they are moving slowly, and they didn’t exist at the time.

From Outside Online

Perhaps my favorite observation took place in the Canadian Arctic with beluga whales.

From Time

In this shallow, three-foot-deep water, belugas will occasionally pick up pebbles with their mouths.

From Time

Just as belugas do, in between the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, it’s essential for us to make time for other things—things that bring joy.

From Time

While she was a graduate student, she had tried to study cortisol in beluga whales in Manitoba, Canada.

From Science News For Students

Break out the smoked salmon and beluga (post heat, of course).

From The Daily Beast

It has been noted that they are found in isolated pockets within that range and are not, like the beluga, widely distributed.

From Project Gutenberg

Like the other medium-sized whale in the same region, the beluga or white whale, the narwhal has no dorsal fin.

From Project Gutenberg

Among the creatures that visit the Lower St. Lawrence is the white whale,—beluga of the naturalists.

From Project Gutenberg

Soon the water is red for each beluga sheds eight or ten gallons of blood.

From Project Gutenberg

The enterprising Barnum exhibited in New York a beluga which drew a boat about in his aquarium.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• mammal
• porpoise