Dictionary

cachalot en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈkæ.ʃəˌloʊ/ (US)
• /ˈkaʃələʊ/ (UK)
• /ˈkaʃəlɒt/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Archaic Latin kapiō Latin capiō Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Indo-European *-tlom Proto-Italic *-klom? Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos? Latin -ulum Latin capulum Portuguese cacho ▲ Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ulus Latin -oluslbor. Portuguese -ola Portuguese cachola Portuguese -ote Portuguese cachalotebor. French cachalotbor. English cachalot Borrowed from French cachalot, from Portuguese cachalote, from cachola (“head”) + -ote.

Meanings

1. The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus.
   • A flexible rib cage facilitates the collapse of the lungs of a diving cachalot (a synonym derived from an old French word for tooth), so reducing the nitrogen uptake which is responsible for decompression sickness in diving humans, while high levels of haemoglobin in the blood and myoglobin in the skeletal muscles carry the oxygen required to sustain long periods between breaths. 2011 September 22, Richard Shelton, “Sheep, pig, whale”, in Times Literary Supplement:

Forms

Deriveds

common cachalot