beluga
Americannoun
-
Also called hausen. a white sturgeon, Huso huso, of the Black and Caspian seas, valued as a source of caviar and isinglass.
-
Also called sea canary, white whale. a cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas, of northern seas, that has a rounded head and is white when adult.
noun
-
a large white sturgeon, Acipenser (or Huso ) huso , of the Black and Caspian Seas: a source of caviar and isinglass
-
another name for white whale
Etymology
Origin of beluga
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)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Restaurants discarded over 50 pounds of beluga caviar likely worth tens of thousands of dollars, one said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
After seeing a beluga being born, she studied and ultimately became a trainer at the park.
From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025
Marine animals face similar challenges: beluga whales have documented gastrointestinal cancers, while farmed Atlantic salmon experience cardiomyopathy syndrome.
From Science Daily • Nov. 17, 2025
Consider caviar: while Baerii caviar costs around 1,600 euros per kilogram, Almas caviar – a rare delicacy from albino beluga sturgeon – can exceed 30,000 euros per kilogram.
From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025
“So over here is the cold-water experience, with your penguins and beluga whales and whatnot. And over there...well, those are some fish, obviously.”
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
