‖ beluga
(bɪˈluːgə)
Also 6 bellougina.
[In sense 1, a. Russ. běˈlūga; in sense 2, a. Russ. běˈlūχa; both f. bělo-, white + -uga, -uχa, augmentative formatives. Fletcher's word is evidently the Russ. deriv. b{supi}êˈlūzhina flesh of the beluga.]
1. A species of fish: the Great or Hausen Sturgeon (Acipenser huso), found in the Caspian and Black Seas, and their tributary rivers.
| 1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (1857) 12 Of ickary or cavery, a great quantitie is made upon the..Volgha out of the fish called bellougina. 1772 Jackson Isinglass in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 7 The Beluga yields the greatest quantity. 1869 Nicholson Zool. (1880) 493 The various species of sturgeon attain a great size, one—the Beluga—often measuring 12 or 15 feet in length. |
2. The white Whale (Delphinapterus leucas), an animal of the Dolphin family, found in herds in the Northern Seas, and in the estuaries of rivers.
| 1817 in Burrowes Cycl. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §211 The Beluga or White Whale..rarely visits our own coasts. 1884 Pall Mall G. 25 July 11/2 In the placid..waters of the fjords..one meets with..shoals of the beluga, or white whale. |