beluga

What it means

1. A whale, Delphinapterus leucas, found in the Arctic Ocean.

   Each summer some 1,500 belugas gather in Cunningham Inlet, drawn in part by the clean sand-and-gravel bottom in the shallows.

   1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 594

   Synonyms: beluga whale, melonhead, sea canary, white whale, whitefish

2. A fish, Huso huso, that is a source of caviar, which is found in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

   Synonyms: European sturgeon

In a sentence

Each summer some 1,500 belugas gather in Cunningham Inlet, drawn in part by the clean sand-and-gravel bottom in the shallows.

1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 594

Where it comes from

1. Russianбелу́га
2. Englishbeluga

Borrowed from Russian белу́га (belúga), from бе́лый (bélyj, “white”). In modern standard Russian, белу́га (belúga) denotes the fish Huso huso only, while белу́ха (belúxa) denotes the cetacean.