balẽa

See also: balea and baleá

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin ballaena, variant of bālaena (“a whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to inflate, blow, swell”), from *bʰel- (“to bloom”).

Cognate with Old Spanish ballena and Mozarabic balléna.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ba.ˈlẽ.a/
  • Rhymes: -ẽa

Noun

balẽa f

  1. whale
  2. a large marine fish

Descendants
  • Galician: balea
  • Portuguese: baleia (see there for further descendants)

Further reading
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