Meanings
nounsperm whale (plural sperm whales)
plural sperm whales
- A whale, Physeter macrocephalus, the largest of the toothed whales.
Synonyms: cachalot, common cachalot, spermaceti whale
- Any whale in the superfamily Physeteroidea, which also includes the small whales of genus Kogia.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA whale, Physeter macrocephalus, the largest of the toothed whales.
More synonyms by meaning
nounlarge whale with a large cavity in the head containing spermaceti and oil; also a source of ambergris
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
A clipping of spermaceti whale.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حُوتُ الْعَنْبَر
- حُوتُ الْعَنْبَر (ḥūtu l-ʕanbar)Physeter macrocephalus
Bulgarian кашало́т
- кашало́т (kašalót)Physeter macrocephalus
Catalan catxalot
- catxalotPhyseter macrocephalus
Chinese Mandarin 抹香鯨 /抹香鲸
- 抹香鯨 /抹香鲸 (mǒxiāngjīng)Physeter macrocephalus
Czech vorvaň
- vorvaňPhyseter macrocephalus
Danish kaskelot, kaskelothval
- kaskelotPhyseter macrocephalus
- kaskelothvalPhyseter macrocephalus
Dutch potvis
- potvisPhyseter macrocephalus
Estonian kašelott
- kašelottPhyseter macrocephalus
Finnish kaskelotti
- kaskelottiPhyseter macrocephalus
French cachalot
- cachalotPhyseter macrocephalus
German Pottwal
- PottwalPhyseter macrocephalus
Greek φυσητήρας
- φυσητήρας (fysitíras)Physeter macrocephalus
Hawaiian palaoa
- palaoaPhyseter macrocephalus
Hindi स्पर्म व्हेल, शुक्राणु व्हेल
- स्पर्म व्हेल (sparm vhel)Physeter macrocephalus
- शुक्राणु व्हेल (śukrāṇu vhel)Physeter macrocephalus
Hungarian nagy ámbráscet, óriás ámbráscet
- nagy ámbráscetPhyseter macrocephalus
- óriás ámbráscetPhyseter macrocephalus
Icelandic búrhvalur
- búrhvalurPhyseter macrocephalus
Irish caisealóid
- caisealóidPhyseter macrocephalus
Italian capodoglio
- capodoglioPhyseter macrocephalus
Japanese 抹香鯨, マッコウクジラ
- 抹香鯨 (makkōkujira)Physeter macrocephalus
- マッコウクジラ (makkōkujira)Physeter macrocephalus
Korean 향고래
- 향고래 (hyanggorae)Physeter macrocephalus
Latin physeter
- physeterPhyseter macrocephalus
Latvian kašalots
- kašalotsPhyseter macrocephalus
Lithuanian kašalotas
- kašalotasPhyseter macrocephalus
Malay paus sperma
- paus spermaPhyseter macrocephalus
Māori parāoa
- parāoaPhyseter macrocephalus
Norwegian Bokmål spermhval, kaskelott
- spermhvalPhyseter macrocephalus
- kaskelottPhyseter macrocephalus
Persian کاشالوت, نهنگ عنبر
- کاشالوت (kâšâlot)Physeter macrocephalus
- نهنگ عنبر (nahang-e 'anbar)Physeter macrocephalus
- گاو عنبر (gāv-e ambar)Physeter macrocephalus
Polish kaszalot
- kaszalotPhyseter macrocephalus
Portuguese cachalote
- cachalotePhyseter macrocephalus
Romanian cașalot
- cașalotPhyseter macrocephalus
Russian кашало́т
- кашало́т (kašalót)Physeter macrocephalus
Slovak vorvaň
- vorvaňPhyseter macrocephalus
Spanish cachalote
- cachalotePhyseter macrocephalus
Swahili nyangumi-shahawa
- nyangumi-shahawaPhyseter macrocephalus
Swedish kaskelot, pottval
- kaskelotPhyseter macrocephalus
- pottvalPhyseter macrocephalus
- spermacetivalPhyseter macrocephalus
Thai วาฬสเปิร์ม
- วาฬสเปิร์มPhyseter macrocephalus
Turkish ispermeçet balinası, kadırga balığı
- ispermeçet balinasıPhyseter macrocephalus
- kadırga balığıPhyseter macrocephalus
- kaşalotPhyseter macrocephalus
- ada balığıPhyseter macrocephalus
- amber balığıPhyseter macrocephalus
Ukrainian кашало́т
- кашало́т (kašalót)Physeter macrocephalus
Vietnamese cá nhà táng
- cá nhà tángPhyseter macrocephalus
Welsh morfil gwyn
- morfil gwynPhyseter macrocephalus
Cite this entry
APA
sperm whale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sperm%20whale
MLA
“sperm whale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sperm%20whale. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sperm whale,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sperm%20whale.
Source: sperm whale on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.