Word.ws English Dictionary

cetacean

/sɪˈteɪʃən/

cetacean adjective: pertaining to the zoologic infraorder Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.

cetacean: pertaining to the zoologic infraorder Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that...
Image: J. Waite (OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

cetacean (comparative more cetacean, superlative most cetacean)

  1. Pertaining to the zoologic infraorder Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.
    • The poached blubber was definitely cetacean in origin, but the particular species could not be identified.
    • She was not as demure as she was in Roanoke; she seemed at the beginning rather like she felt more comfortable in the oceanic atmosphere harpooning her opponent. Indeed, at times, it seemed she was Ahab and the witherwin Allen was her Moby Dick; but while she sails her Pequod just as intently...2012, Hampton Roads Republican US Senate Debate Summary
    Synonyms:
    cetaceous
  2. (broadly, figuratively, sometimes) Resembling or relating to large aquatic mammals.
    • The obese woman, ungainly on land, moved with a kind of cetacean grace in the water.
    • […] I would propose that external dependencies to the document would be automatically downloaded if a local copy doesn't exist so that the core distribution no longer is quite so cetacean in size.2023 December 18, Don Hosek, “Re: LaTeX v.s. Typst: What is TeX Community's Future Plan? [closed]”, in TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange

Noun

cetacean (plural cetaceans)

  1. A marine mammal belonging to the infraorder Cetacea, including dolphins, porpoises, and whales, characterized by a streamlined body, one or two blowholes, tail flukes, and fin-like forelimbs without hind limbs.
    • The tour promised spiritual experiences with humpback whales and other cetaceans, but all we saw were seagulls and a dead sea otter.
    Synonyms:
    whale[Appendix:Glossary

cetacean meaning in Tamil

cetacean in Tamil

இதுவும் ஒரு சிற்றினம் ஆகும்

Examples of cetacean in a sentence

  • Around 50 million years ago, cetacean ancestors took to the water.
  • The blooded animals included man, viviparous and oviparous quadrupeds, cetaceans, fish, and birds.
  • Many species of cetacean, especially those that frequent coastal waters, ‘spyhop’.

All 11 example sentences with cetacean

Synonyms of cetacean

Forms of cetacean

Adjective
comparativemore cetacean
superlativemost cetacean
Noun
pluralcetaceans

Origin of cetacean

From translingual Cetacea, from Latin cētus (“whale”), + -an.

Words formed from cetacean

Words that rhyme with cetacean

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cetacean

What does cetacean mean?
Cetacean means pertaining to the zoologic infraorder Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.
What is cetacean in Tamil?
Cetacean in Tamil is இதுவும் ஒரு சிற்றினம் ஆகும். See Cetacean meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is cetacean?
Cetacean can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce cetacean?
Cetacean is pronounced /sɪˈteɪʃən/.

Words near cetacean in the dictionary

  1. CETA
  2. cetaben
  3. cetacea
  4. cetaceamorphan
  5. cetaceamorphans
  6. cetacean
  7. cetaceans
  8. cetaceous
  9. cetalkonium
  10. cetamolol
  11. cetancodont

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cetacean (page history and authors); cetacean (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cetacean.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-cetacean.wav.

Cite this entry: “cetacean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cetacean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.