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mysticete

American

[mis-tuh-seet] / ˈmɪs təˌsit /

noun

Zoology.

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.

Etymology

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-)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023