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

Marine animals face similar challenges: beluga whales have documented gastrointestinal cancers, while farmed Atlantic salmon experience cardiomyopathy syndrome.

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Amid financial struggles, the park has been trying to get permission to sell 30 beluga whales to China.

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A Canadian amusement park is threatening to euthanise 30 beluga whales after the government blocked its request to send them to China.

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"We’ve been to see the brown bears fishing the salmon out of a river in Alaska, we saw beluga whales in Hudson Bay, Canada," Liz says.

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The sighting was unusual because the beluga was so tame and they're rarely seen as far south.

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Related Words

• mammal 
• porpoise