porpoiseとは

語源

From Middle English porpeys, purpeys, borrowed from Anglo-Norman porpeis, purpeis, Old French pourpois, porpois, pourpais, porpeis (“porpoise”), from Vulgar Latin *porcopiscis (“porpoise”, literally “pig-fish”), from Latin porcus (“pig”) + piscis (“fish”). Compare (in transposed order) obsolete Italian pesce porco and Portuguese peixe porco; also Latin porcus marinus (“sea hog”), akin in formation to German Meerschwein, English mereswine. More at mereswine.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔːpəs/, /pɔːˈpɔɪs/
• (米国発音) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔːɹpəs/
• 韻: -ɔː(ɹ)pəs, -ɔɪs

名詞

porpoise (複数形 porpoises)

1. A small cetacean of the family Phocoenidae, related to whales and dolphins.
2. (Canada, 米国用法, imprecisely) Any small dolphin.

同意語

• garfish, mereswine, sea hog, sea pig, seaswine

動詞

porpoise (三人称単数 現在形 porpoises, 現在分詞 porpoising, 過去形および過去分詞形 porpoised)

1. (intransitive) Said of an air-breathing aquatic animal such as a porpoise or penguin: To repeatedly jump out of the water to take a breath and dive back in a continuous motion.
   • 1979, J.G. Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 15:

     Urging them to join me, I raced in circles through the surging water, chased my tail for the children, blew spouts of foam through the sunfilled spray, porpoised to and fro across the river in shallow leaps that stitched the air and water into a table-lace of foam.

2. (intransitive) Said of an aircraft: to make a series of plunges when taking off or landing; or of a watercraft: to successively plunge up and down in the water.

参考

• dolphin
• killer whale
• pod
• sea lion
• seal
• whale
• Appendix:English collective nouns