Meanings
plural cachalots
- The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus.
1 more example
A flexible rib cage facilitates the collapse of the lungs of a diving cachalot (a synonym derived from an old French word for tooth), so reducing the nitrogen uptake which is responsible for decompression sickness in diving humans, while high levels of haemoglobin in the blood and myoglobin in the skeletal muscles carry the oxygen required to sustain long periods between breaths.
2011 September 22, Richard Shelton, “Sheep, pig, whale”, in Times Literary Supplement
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlarge whale with a large cavity in the head containing spermaceti and oil; also a source of ambergris
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kap-
- Proto-Indo-European*kapyéti
- Proto-Italic*kapjō
- Latincapiō
- Latincapulum
- Portuguesecacho
- Portuguesecachola
- Portuguesecachalote
- Frenchcachalot
- Englishcachalot
Borrowed from French cachalot, from Portuguese cachalote, from cachola (“head”) + -ote.
More words from French, Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cachalot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cachalot
“cachalot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cachalot. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cachalot,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cachalot.
Source: cachalot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.