narwhal

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“
The same kind of thing had happened before, and she could never quite make out where it had come from, for the narwhal was so rarely met with in the Hudson Bay waters now, and was a creature so fierce, that it was puzzling to know how people in birchbark canoes, armed only with spears, could ever manage to secure it.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun An Arctic whale (Monodon monoceros) that has a spotted pelt and is characterized in the male by a long spirally twisted ivory tusk projecting from the left side of its head.

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Examples (50)

  • But proponents stress that polar bears are not the only species involved: narwhal, beluga and bowhead whales, walrus, musk oxen, caribou, arctic wolf, and migratory birds are at risk. —  Wired Top Stories
  • Hyaena Gallery where everything from Richard Speck to "monster" art to Daniel Johnston to the avenging narwhal (!?) are discussed! —  Icons of Fright News and Updates
  • The study found that the three species most vulnerable to climate change are the hooded seal, the polar bear, and the narwhal: the common thread between these species being the loss of sea ice. —  Mongabay.com News
  • (Thanx to all who helped me decide whether you'd rather be a narwhal, walrus, or manatee.) —  Torley Lives
  • It might not be as well known as the stuff that comes from elephants, but the ivory from the narwhal, the tusked whale of the northern seas, is just as much in demand - and with that demand comes a threat just as severe as the one elephants face. —  Mathaba Highlights Briefing
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Norwegian or Danish narhval, from Old Norse nāhvalr : nār, corpse (from its whitish color) + hvalr, whale.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Also narwhale, narwal; = French narval = German narwal, from Swedish Danish narhval = Icelandic nāhvalr, a narwhal; the Icelandic form is apparently literally ‘a corpse-whale,’ from nār (nominative; in comp. nā -), a corpse, + hvalr = English whale, and is usually supposed to be so called from its pale color; but the term seems unusual, and the form does not suit the Swedish Danish narhval. The name may be a native (Greenland?) term adapted to Icelandic; cf. Greenland anarnak, a kind of whale. Cf. walrus, Anglo-Saxon horshwæl, in which the element whale appears.
 

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/ˈnɑrhwəl/
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