narwhal: [17] The narwhal, a small arctic whale with a long unicorn-like tusk, is whitish in colour, which evidently reminded Viking seafarers somewhat morbidly of a corpse, for they named it in Old Icelandic nāhvalr, literally ‘corpse whale’. In Danish and Norwegian this became narhval, and English took it over and partially anglicized it as narh whale. Over the centuries this has contracted to narwhal.
narwhal (n.)
1650s, from Danish and Norwegian narhval, probably a metathesis of Old Norse nahvalr, literally "corpse-whale," from na "corpse" + hvalr "whale" (see whale). So called from resemblance of its whitish color to that of dead bodies. The first element is from PIE *nau- (1) "death; to be exhausted" (cognates: Old English ne, neo, Gothic naus "corpse," Old Cornish naun, Old Church Slavonic navi, Old Prussian nowis "corpse," Lettish nawe "death," Lithuanian novyti "to torture, kill").
双语例句
1. Whether they catch a male or female narwhal, the Inuit waste nothing.
不论猎捕到公角鲸或母角鲸, 因纽特人绝不浪费丝毫可用之物.
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2. The narwhal's single, spiral tusk has always been a mystery.
独角鲸那独一无二的螺旋状尖角总是被视为神秘之物.
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3. The male narwhal's extraordinary 1 tusk, up to three meters long, inspired 2 legends 3 of unicorns long ago.
公角鲸奇特的长牙(长达三米)在古时曾引发关于独角兽的传说.
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4. In fact, this monster is not a narwhal, but a wonderful submarine structure.
