What does Dolphin mean?
Definitions for Dolphin
ˈdɒl fɪn, ˈdɔl-Dol·phin
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word Dolphin.
Princeton's WordNet
dolphinfish, dolphin, mahimahinoun
large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)
dolphinnoun
any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises
GCIDE
dolphinnoun
(Zool.) The Coryph
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Wiktionary
dolphinnoun
A carnivorous aquatic mammal inhabiting mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, famed for its intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
Etymology: dolfin, from daulphin, dalphin, daufin, from delphinus, from δελφίς, from δελφύς "womb".
dolphinnoun
A fish, the mahi-mahi or dorado, scientific name Coryphaena hippurus, with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.
Etymology: dolfin, from daulphin, dalphin, daufin, from delphinus, from δελφίς, from δελφύς "womb".
dolphinnoun
The dauphin, eldest son of the kings of France.
Etymology: dolfin, from daulphin, dalphin, daufin, from delphinus, from δελφίς, from δελφύς "womb".
dolphinnoun
A maritime semi submerged man-made structure usually close to shore.
Etymology: dolfin, from daulphin, dalphin, daufin, from delphinus, from δελφίς, from δελφύς "womb".
Webster Dictionary
Dolphinnoun
a cetacean of the genus Delphinus and allied genera (esp. D. delphis); the true dolphin
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
the Coryphaena hippuris, a fish of about five feet in length, celebrated for its surprising changes of color when dying. It is the fish commonly known as the dolphin. See Coryphaenoid
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
a mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped on the deck of an enemy's vessel
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
a kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
a spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
a mooring post on a wharf or beach
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
a permanent fender around a heavy boat just below the gunwale
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
in old ordnance, one of the handles above the trunnions by which the gun was lifted
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Dolphinnoun
a small constellation between Aquila and Pegasus. See Delphinus, n., 2
Etymology: [F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. delfi`s a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, 3, & 6), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. delfy`s womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.]
Freebase
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m and 40 kg, up to 9.5 m and 10 tonnes. They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, eating mostly fish and squid. The family Delphinidae is the largest in the Cetacean order, and evolved relatively recently, about ten million years ago, during the Miocene. Dolphins are among the most intelligent animals, and their often friendly appearance, an artifact of the "smile" of their mouthline, and seemingly playful attitude have made them very popular in human culture.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Dolphin
dol′fin, n. an animal of the whale kind, closely resembling the porpoise, about 8 or 10 feet long: the coryphæna, a fish about 5 feet in length, noted for the brilliancy of its colours when dying.—ns. Dol′phinet (Spens.), a female dolphin; Dol′phin-fly, a black aphis or plant-louse, destructive to bean-plants. [O. Fr. daulphin—L. delphinus—Gr. delphis, -phinos.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
dolphin
Naturalists understand by this word numerous species of small cetaceous animals of the genus Delphinus, found in nearly all seas. They greatly resemble porpoises, and are often called by this name by sailors; but they are distinguished by having a longer and more slender snout. The word is also generally, but less correctly, applied to a fish, the dorado (Coryphæna hippuris), celebrated for the changing hues of its surface when dying. Also, a small light ancient boat, which gave rise to Pliny's story of the boy going daily to school across the Lucrine lake on a dolphin. Also, in ordnance, especially brass guns, two handles nearly over the trunnions for lifting the guns by. Also, a French gold coin (dauphine), formerly in great currency. Also, a stout post on a quay-head, or in a beach, to make hawsers fast to. The name is also given to a spar or block of wood, with a ring-bolt at each end, through which a hawser can be rove, for vessels to ride by; the same as wooden buoys.
Editors Contribution
dolphin
A type of animal.
Dolphins are so beautiful to see.
Submitted by MaryC on March 8, 2020
Etymology and Origins
Dolphin
A gold coin introduced by Charles V. of France, also Dauphin of Vienne.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'Dolphin' in Nouns Frequency: #2186
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of Dolphin in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of Dolphin in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of Dolphin in a Sentence
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this bottlenose dolphin was speared to death in May and washed up on shore on Upper Captiva Island in Florida. A reward has been posted for information in the case. ( NOAA) HUNDREDS OF DOLPHINS STRANDED, WASH UP DEAD ALONG US GULF COAST, OFFICIALS SAY The bottlenose dolphin washed up on shore on Upper Captiva Island in May. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the dolphin was known to area biologists when he was alive. He was last observed swimming around fishing boats and was seen with begging dolphins.
I knew right away he was going to land in the boat, because of the way he was facing -- knocked me backwards and then landed kind of on my feet and ankles, it was pretty much chaos at that point -- my wife had fallen down, she was screaming, the dolphin was making screaming noises, my daughter was totally freaking out and screaming.
The data we have seen thus far, including the new study from NOAA, do not show that oil from the Deepwater Horizon accident caused an increase in dolphin mortality.
I thought it was a dolphin at first until I started feeling and realized it was pretty significant lacerations.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
The timing, location, and nature of the lesions support that oil compounds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused these lesions and contributed to the high numbers of dolphin deaths within this oil spill's footprint.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for Dolphin
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- адельфин, амшынҳәaAbkhaz
- dolfynAfrikaans
- دلفين, درفيل, دخسArabic
- delfinAzerbaijani
- дэльфінBelarusian
- делфинBulgarian
- ডলফিনBengali
- dofíCatalan, Valencian
- delfín, plískaviceCzech
- delfin, duc d'albeDanish
- Delphin, Delfin, DalbeGerman
- δελφίνιGreek
- delfenoEsperanto
- delfínSpanish
- delfiinEstonian
- izurdeBasque
- دلفینPersian
- delfiini, diktaaliFinnish
- dauphin, duc-d'AlbeFrench
- dolfinWestern Frisian
- deilfIrish
- deilf, leumadair, muc-bhiorach, bèist-ghormScottish Gaelic
- golfiñoGalician
- doraidManx
- דולפיןHebrew
- सूंस, डॉल्फ़िनHindi
- delfinHungarian
- դելֆինArmenian
- delphinoInterlingua
- lumba-lumbaIndonesian
- höfrungurIcelandic
- delfinoItalian
- דולפיןHebrew
- イルカ, 海豚Japanese
- lumba-lumbaJavanese
- დელფინიGeorgian
- дельфинKazakh
- ផ្សោតKhmer
- 돌고래Korean
- дельфинKyrgyz
- delphinusLatin
- ປາເດິນຟິນLao
- delfinasLithuanian
- delfīnsLatvian
- fesoMalagasy
- aiheMāori
- делфинMacedonian
- далайн гахайMongolian
- lumba-lumbaMalay
- delfiniMaltese
- လင်းပိုင်Burmese
- dolfijnDutch
- delfinNorwegian
- tééh hóyáaniiNavajo, Navaho
- dalfinOccitan
- delfinPolish
- golfinho, delfimPortuguese
- delfinRomansh
- delfinRomanian
- дельфин, причальный пал, куст свайRussian
- grufinu, gurfinu, gorfinuSardinian
- делфин, плискавица, pliskavica, delfin, дупин, dupinSerbo-Croatian
- delfínSlovak
- delfinSlovene
- delfinAlbanian
- delfin, dykdalb, diktalSwedish
- pombooSwahili
- делфинTajik
- ปลาโลมา, โลมาThai
- delfinTurkmen
- lumba-lumbaTagalog
- yunusTurkish
- дельфінUkrainian
- ڈالفنUrdu
- delfinUzbek
- cá heo mỏ, cá heoVietnamese
- דעלפיןYiddish
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"Dolphin." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 25 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Dolphin>.
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