Walruses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Massive Arctic-dwelling pinnipeds recognized by their elongated ivory tusks, whiskered faces, thick protective blubber, and social lounging on ice-bound ocean shores
2. Large marine mammals known for their long tusks, whiskered faces, and thick blubber, living mostly in cold northern seas
3. Heavy-built sea animals characterized by notable tusks, facial whiskers, and a layer of insulating fat, often found resting on ice

Etymology: "Walruses" is simply the plural of "walrus," so the story belongs to the singular. The name is a compound from Dutch, "walrus," built from "wal," meaning "whale," and "ros," meaning "horse." The result is a whale-horse, an image that matches the animal's bulk and the bristled, tusked face of the creature. English had its own older name for the animal, "horshwæl" from Old English, literally "horse-whale," so the two languages arrived at nearly the same picture independently. English speakers probably borrowed the Dutch form, which pushed the native word out of use. Related compounds appear in Danish ("hvalros"), Old Norse ("hrosshvalr"), and German ("Walross"), showing that many northern European languages settled on the same horse-and-whale pairing for this animal.

Synonyms: pinnipeds