grampus

Jul. 30th, 2014 07:29 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (words are sexy)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
grampus (GRAM-puhs) - n., Risso's dolphin, a slaty-grey cetacean (Grampus griseus) widely distributed in northern oceans; any of various related cetaceans, including especially the orca and pilot whale; any of various animals of eastern North America, including the hellbender salamander, a whip scorpion common to Florida, and the larva of the Dobsonfly.


I should put the orca meaning first, since that was former by far the most common sense, but the genus name of the dolphin means that's the most proper. In use in this form for cetaceans since the 1590s, earlier form graundepose from the 1520s, altered to get in a grand from Middle English graspeys, from from Anglo-French grampais, from Old French graspois or craspois, meaning both a type of whale and (salted) whale meat/blubber, from Medieval Latin craspicis, lit. fat fish, from Latin crassus, thick + piscis, fish.

---L.

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