beluga
[ buh-loo-guh ]
/ bəˈlu gə /
noun
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.
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)
Words nearby beluga
beltrami,
beltsville,
beltsville small white,
beltsy,
beltway,
beluga,
belukha,
belvedere,
belvidere,
belvoir castle,
bely
Example sentences from the Web for beluga
British Dictionary definitions for beluga
beluga
/ (bɪˈluːɡə) /
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
Word Origin for beluga
C18: from Russian
byeluga, from
byely white