spermaceti

S1P3E1R1M3A1C3E1T1I1
UK/ˌspɜːməˈsiːti/US/spɚməˈsiːti/US/spɚməˈsɛti/US, obsolete, proscribed/spɚməˈsɪti/

noun

A wax obtained from the head of sperm whales and used to make cosmetics, etc; humans separate it out from sperm oil.

“Holonym: sperm oil”

Scrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounspermaceti (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA wax obtained from the head of sperm whales and used to make cosmetics, etc; humans separate it out from sperm oil.

    Holonym: sperm oil

    1 more example

    Moreover, as that of Heidelburgh was always replenished with the most excellent of the wines of the Rhenish valleys, so the tun of the whale contains by far the most precious of all his oily vintages; namely, the highly-prized spermaceti, in its absolutely pure, limpid, and odoriferous state.

    1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 77, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

Origin

From Latin sperma (“sperm”) + Latin cētī (“of the whale”, genitive of cētus).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian спермацет, китова мас
  • спермацет (spermacet)wax obtained from the head of sperm whale
  • китова мас (kitova mas)wax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Chinese Mandarin 鯨蠟 /鲸蜡, 鯨腦 /鲸脑
  • 鯨蠟 /鲸蜡 (jīnglà)wax obtained from the head of sperm whale
  • 鯨腦 /鲸脑 (jīngnǎo)wax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Finnish spermaseetti
  • spermaseettiwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
German Walrat, Spermazet
  • Walratwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
  • Spermazetwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Italian spermaceti
  • spermacetiwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Latin caetaceum
  • caetaceumwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Polish spermacet, olbrot
  • spermacetwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
  • olbrotwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Russian спермаце́т
  • спермаце́т (spermacét)wax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Spanish esperma de ballena, espermaceti
  • esperma de ballenawax obtained from the head of sperm whale
  • espermacetiwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Swedish valrav
  • valravwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Tagalog esperma
  • espermawax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Turkish ispermeçet, balıknefesi
  • ispermeçetwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
  • balıknefesiwax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Ukrainian спермаце́т
  • спермаце́т (spermacét)wax obtained from the head of sperm whale
Cite this entry
APA

spermaceti. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermaceti

MLA

“spermaceti.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermaceti. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spermaceti,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermaceti.

Source: spermaceti on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.