mysticete

[ mis-tuh-seet ]

nounZoology.

any whale of the suborder Mysticeti, as finback and humpback whales, characterized by a symmetrical skull, paired blowholes, and rows of baleen plates for feeding on plankton.

Origin of mysticete

1825–35; <New Latin Mysticeti, plural of Mysticetus<Greek mystíkētos or mŷs tò kêtos whalebone whale, literally, mouse-whale (term used in extant texts of Aristotle, perhaps a corruption of *mystakókētos mustache-whale; see mustachio, cet-)

Compare odontocete.

Words Nearby mysticete

mystery play
mystery tour
mystic
mystical
mystical theology
mysticete
mysticism
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mystification
mystify
mystique

How to use mysticete in a sentence

That was why the mysticete we had killed the day before did not start to drag the Scarboro toward the school.
Swept Out to Sea | W. Bertram Foster

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