baleia

Portuguese

baleia (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Alternative forms

• balea, balêa (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /baˈlej.ɐ/ [baˈleɪ̯.ɐ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɐˈlɐj.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɐˈlɐj.ɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɐˈlej.ɐ/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɐˈlej.ɐ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɐˈle.ɐ/

• Rhymes: -ejɐ, -ɐjɐ
• Hyphenation: ba‧lei‧a

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese balẽa, from Latin ballaena, variant of bālaena, from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to inflate, blow, swell”), from *bʰel- (“to bloom”).

Noun

baleia f (plural baleias)

1. whale (any of several species of large sea mammals of the order Cetacea, excluding smaller ones)
2. (colloquial, derogatory) landwhale (an obese person)

Derived terms

• baleação
• baleato
• baleeiro
• baleia-anã
• baleia-assassina
• baleia-azul
• baleia-boreal
• baleia-branca
• baleia-comum
• baleia-corcunda
• baleia-fin
• baleia-franca
• baleia-jubarte
• baleia-piloto
• baleia-sei
• baleiazinha
• barbas de baleia
• gordo, baleia, saco de areia
• tubarão-baleia

Descendants

• Guinea-Bissau Creole: baleia
• → Tetum: baleia

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

baleia

1. inflection of balear:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “baleia”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “baleia”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “baleia”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Tetum

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese baleia.

Noun

baleia

1. whale (any of several species of large sea mammals of the order Cetacea, excluding smaller ones)

References

• “baleia”, in Dicionário infopédia: Tetum-English, Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026