Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

narwhal

/ˈnɑɹʍəl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.28 in modern English

Syllables: nar-whal
IPA: /ˈnɑɹʍəl/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An Arctic toothed whale (Monodon monoceros) that grows to about 20 feet (6 meters) long, the male having a single horn-like tusk, a twisted, pointed cuspid that projects forward.

Example Sentences

"Moreover, both narwhals and bowheads can occur in late summer in southern Prince Regent Inlet (coming from Lancaster Sound) and may reach Fury and Hecla Strait and northern Foxe Basin."
"Often, in the morning, narwhals played around the boat and reminded me of the dolphins, so far away in the North Atlantic. But these narwhals were not like the Atlantic sea-dogs; they had little of their flashing vibrancy; these Turkish narwhals were much more relaxed, and rolled over lazily, with a sigh, as if they were going to retire to a sofa and smoke a hookah."
"At over 2.5 m in length, the tusk of the male narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is one the most impressive instruments of male-male competition among mammals."

Etymology

From Dutch narwal or Danish/Norwegian Bokmål narhval, from Old Norse náhvalr, from nár (“corpse”) + hvalr (“whale”). Compare Icelandic náhvalur.

Origin

Source language: Dutch

Word Breakdown

Root: narwal, -, narhval, náhvalr

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈnɑɹʍəl/
British English: /ˈnɑːʍəl/

Inflected Forms

narwhals (plural) narwal (alternative) narwhale (alternative)

Derived Forms

narluga

Synonyms

sea unicorn narwal narwhale monodon monoceros

Questions

How do you pronounce narwhal?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈnɑɹʍəl/.
What does narwhal mean?: An Arctic toothed whale (Monodon monoceros) that grows to about 20 feet (6 meters) long, the male having a single horn-like tusk, a twisted, pointed cuspid that projects forward.
Where does narwhal come from?: It is traced to Dutch.

How to pronounce narwhal

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “narwhal”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈnɑɹʍəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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