# dolphin
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈdɒlf.ɪn/, [ˈdɒl̥fɪn]
* (General American) IPA: /ˈdɑlf.ɪn/, [ˈdɑl̥fɪn]
* Audio (US):(file)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English delphyn, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís), from δελφύς (delphús, “womb”); the modern form in -ol- is probably influenced by the pronunciation of Middle French dauphin. Compare Swedish delfin. Doublet of dauphin. Displaced native Old English mereswīn (literally “sea pig”).

#### Noun

dolphin (plural dolphins)
* A carnivorous aquatic mammal in one of several families of the infraorder Cetacea, famed for its intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
** Tursiops truncatus, (Atlantic bottlenose dolphin) the most well-known species.
    Synonyms: mereswine, sea goose, sea pig
* A fish, the mahi-mahi or dorado, Coryphaena hippurus, with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.
* (heraldry) A depiction of a fish, with a broad indented fin, usually embowed.
* The dauphin, eldest son of the kings of France.
* (history) A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped through the deck and the hull of an enemy's vessel to sink it.
* (nautical) A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.
* (nautical) A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables.
* (nautical) A mooring post on a wharf or beach.
* (nautical) A permanent fender designed to protect a heavy boat, bridge, or coastal structure from the impact of large floating objects such as ice, floating logs, or vessels.
** 1844, The Technical Educator, an encyclopædia, page 107:At each end of the piers in the water, in cases where several rows of pile are driven, a sort of cutwater should be formed, in order to ward off heavy bodies, such as floating trees, ice, etc. and prevent them from injuring the superstructure (called in German constructions, "Eisbrecher," or ice-breaker). This is usually done by driving one pile by itself in advance of the rest, or by forming what is called a "dolphin" at each end of the pier.
** 1852, William Tierney Clark, An Account, with illustrations, of the Suspension Bridge across the River Danube, uniting Pesth with Buda and the adjacent country, in the Kingdom of Hungary, etc, page 37:An ice-breaker or dolphin was also constructed during the latter part of the autumn, a little above the site for No. 2 dam, or that for the twoer nearest the Pesth shore; this dolphin, which served as a protection against the ice, rafts, &c. was constructed at this time, so that a means might be afforded of judging of the actual force of the ice during the winter ensuing; and the event proved that its construction was most fortunate, as the winter of 1840-41 was unusually severe.
** 1868, Stephen Bleecker Luce, Seamanship, page 28:The Dolphin is now seldom used, but a rope treated in the same manner, with mousings raised on it at regular intervals, is sometimes put around a Launch, just below the gunwale outside and secured there as a sort of permanent fender; this also is called a Dolphin.
** 1852, The Congressional Globe: Volume 32, page xxx:For a dolphin or buoy to be placed on the south point of Goat Island, in the harbor of Newport, one hundred and fifty dollars.
** 1860 March 31, “Victoria Bridge”, in American Railroad Journal, volume 16, number 13:Sometimes a stoppage would take place owing to the accumulation of ice between the Dolphin and the dam, which kept that above back until a mass of ice more resembling an island than anything else it can be compared to, would force the whole mass before it, breaking up the large blocks accumulated at the dam into a thousand pieces.
* (military, obsolete) One of the handles above the trunnions by which a gun was lifted.
* (US, slang) A person who buys shares on the primary market only to resell them immediately at a high profit.

##### Hypernyms

* mereswine

##### Derived terms

* Amazon dolphin
* Amazon river dolphin
* Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)
* Arabian common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
* Araguaian river dolphin (Inia araguaiaensis)
* Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii)
* Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis)
* Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus)
* Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni)
* black dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia)
* blind river dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
* bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops spp.)
* Chilean dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia)
* Chinese river dolphin
* Chinese white dolphin
* Clymene dolphin
* Commerson's dolphin
* common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
* delphine
* dolphinarium
* dolphin dive
* dolphinese
* dolphinet
* dolphinfish (Coryphaena spp.)
* dolphin fly (Aphis fabae)
* dolphin-friendly
* dolphin hugger
* dolphining
* dolphin kick
* dolphinkind
* dolphinless
* dolphinlike
* dolphin shorts
* dolphinspeak
* dolphin striker
* dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus)
* flog the dolphin
* Fraser's dolphin
* Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
* green dolphin
* Guiana dolphin
* Heaviside's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii)
* Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)
* hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger)
* humpback dolphin (Sousa spp.)
* Indian humpback dolphin
* Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin (Sousa plumbea)
* Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis)
* Indus River dolphin (Platanista minor)
* Irrawaddy dolphin
* La Plata dolphin
* long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
* Māui dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)
* oceanic dolphin
* Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis)
* Pacific white-sided dolphin
* panda dolphin
* pantropical spotted dolphin
* Peale's dolphin
* piebald dolphin
* pink dolphin
* pink river dolphin
* right whale dolphin
* Risso's dolphin
* river dolphin
* rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis)
* Sarawak dolphin
* short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
* side-swimming dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
* skunk dolphin
* South Asian river dolphin
* southern right whale dolphin (Lissodelphis peronii)
* spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris)
* spotted dolphin
* striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
* wax the dolphin
* white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)
* whitefin dolphin
* white-sided dolphin
* wholphin
* Yangtze river dolphin, Yangtze dolphin, Yangtze River dolphin (†Lipotes vexillifer)

##### Translations

Abkhaz: адельфин (adelʲfin), амшынҳәа (amŝənḥʷa)
Adyghe: хыкъо (xəqʷo), псыкъу (psəqʷu)
Afrikaans: dolfyn (af)
Ainu: オコㇺ (okom), タンヌ (tannu), トゥワユㇰ (tuwayuk)
Albanian: delfin (sq)
Arabic: دُلْفِين m (dulfīn), دَرْفِيل m (darfīl), دُخَس m (duḵas)
Aragonese: dalfín m
Armenian: դելֆին (hy) (delfin)
Old Armenian: դելփին (delpʻin)
Assamese: শিহু (xihu), উলুপী (ulupi)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܹܠܦܝܼܢܵܐ m (delpīna)
Asturian: toliña (ast) f, golfín (ast) m, llofín (ast) m
Azerbaijani: delfin (az)
Basque: izurde (eu)
Belarusian: дэльфі́н m (delʹfín)
Bengali: ডলফিন (bn) (ḍolphin)
Bikol Central: lumod (bcl)
Breton: delfin m, beg-hir (br) m
Bulgarian: делфи́н (bg) m (delfín)
Burmese: လင်းပိုင် (my) (lang:puing)
Catalan: dofí (ca) m
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴰⵣⵢⴰⵎ (azyam)
Central Melanau: belusok
Chamicuro: walali
Cherokee: ᏗᏁᏍᏆᏕᎩ (dinesquadegi)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 海豚 (hoi$^2$ tyun$^4$)
Hakka: 海豚 (hói-thùn)
Hokkien: 海豬 / 海猪 (zh-min-nan) (hái-ti, hái-tu), 海豬仔 / 海猪仔 (hái-ti-á, hái-tu-á), 海豚 (zh-min-nan) (hái-thûn), 海鼠 (hái-chhú) (Magong), 鯃魚 / 鯃鱼 (gô͘-hî, gô͘-hû), 海徛 (hái-khiā), 海鰡 / 海𱈊 (hái-liu), 烏鯃 / 乌鯃 (o͘-ngô͘), 白鯃 (pe̍h-gô͘, pe̍h-ngô͘), 白鰗 / 白𬶞 (pe̍h-kô͘)
Mandarin: 海豚 (zh) (hǎitún), 海豬 / 海猪 (zh) (hǎizhū), 海豨 (zh) (hǎixī) (literary)
Wu: 海豚 ($^5$he-den)
Cornish: pyffyer m, morhogh m
Crimean Tatar: yunus balığı
Czech: plískavice f, delfín (cs) m
Danish: delfin (da)
Dutch: dolfijn (nl) m
Egyptian: (sjn n wꜣḏ-wr m)
Esperanto: delfeno m
Estonian: delfiin (et)
Faroese: springari m, delfin f
Finnish: delfiini (fi)
French: dauphin (fr) m
Galician: golfiño (gl) m, touliña f
Georgian: დელფინი (delpini)
Old Georgian: დელფინი (delpini)
German: Delphin (de) m, Delfin (de) m
Greek: δελφίνι (el) n (delfíni)
Ancient: δελφίν m (delphín), δελφίς f (delphís)
Greenlandic: aarluarsuk
Guaraní: guayraka
Gujarati: શિશુમાર n (śiśumār)
Haitian Creole: dofen
Hawaiian: hoikiuna
Hebrew: דּוֹלְפִין (he) m (dólfin)
Hindi: सूंस m (sūns) (also porpoise), सूँस (hi) f (sū̃s), शिशुमार (hi) m (śiśumār)
Hungarian: delfin (hu)
Icelandic: höfrungur (is)
Indonesian: lumba-lumba (id)
Interlingua: delphino
Irish: deilf
Istriot: dulfeîn m
Italian: delfino (it) m
Japanese: 海豚 (ja) (いるか, iruka), イルカ (ja) (iruka)
Javanese: lumba-lumba
Kabardian: хыкхъуэ (kbd) (xəqꭓʷɛ)
Kabyle: azyam
Kashmiri: سوٗسمار (sūsmār)
Kazakh: дельфин (delfin)
Khmer: ផ្សោត (km) (phsaot)
Kikai: 海豚 (ふぃとぅ, fitu, ぴとぅ, pitu)
Korean: 돌고래 (ko) (dolgorae)
Kunigami: 海豚 (ひーとぅい, hiitui)
Kyrgyz: дельфин (ky) (delfin)
Lao: ປາເດິນຟິນ (lo) (pā dœn fin), ປາໂລມາ (pā lō mā), ເດິນຟິນ (dœn fin), ໂລມາ (lō mā), ໝູທະເລ (mū tha lē)
Latin: delphīnus (la) m
Latvian: delfīns m
Laz: delpina
Lithuanian: delfinas (lt) m
Low German:
German Low German: Meerswien (nds) n, Swienfisch m
Macedonian: делфин (mk) m (delfin)
Malagasy: feso (mg)
Malay: lumba-lumba
Malayalam: ഏടി (ml) (ēṭi)
Maltese: delfini
Manchu: ᠨᠠᠮᡠ ᡠᠯᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨ (namu ulgiyan)
Mansaka: lomba
Manx: doraid
Maori: aihe
Marathi: डॉलफिन m (ḍŏlphin)
Middle English: delphyn, mereswyn
Mongolian: далайн гахай (dalajn gaxaj)
Navajo: tééh hóyáanii
Nivkh: поми (pomi)
Norman: dauphîn m
Northern Amami Ōshima: 海豚 (ふとぅ, futu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: delfin m
Nynorsk: delfin m, springar m
Occitan: dalfin (oc) m
Okinawan: 海豚 (ふぃーとぅ, fiitu)
Old English: mereswīn n
Ottoman Turkish: یونس بالغی (yunus balığı)
Papiamentu: dòlfein
Persian: دلفین (fa) (dolfin), خوک‌ماهی (xuk-mâhi)
Polish: delfin (pl) m
Portuguese: golfinho (pt) m, delfim (pt) m
Quechua: phujpuri
Romagnol: dilfòin m
Romanian: delfin (ro) m
Romansch: delfin
Russian: дельфи́н (ru) m (delʹfín)
Samoan: masimasi (sm)
Sardinian: gorfinu, grufinu, gurfinu
Scots: dowphin
Scottish Gaelic: leumadair m, bèist-ghorm f, deilf f, muc-bhiorach f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: дупин m, делфин m, плискавица f
Roman: dupin (sh) m, delfin (sh) m, pliskavica (sh) f
Sicilian: derfinu (scn) m, dirfinu (scn), derfinu (scn), draffinu (scn), darfinu (scn)
Sinhalese: ඩොල්ෆින් (ḍolfin)
Slovak: delfín (sk) m
Slovene: delfin (sl) m
Somali: hoombarada
Southern Amami Ōshima: 海豚 (ふとぅ, futu)
Spanish: delfín (es) m
Sranan Tongo: profosu
Sundanese: ᮜᮥᮙ᮪ᮘᮜᮥᮙ᮪ᮘ (lumbalumba)
Swahili: pomboo
Swedish: delfin (sv) c
Sylheti: ꠚꠥ (fú)
Tagalog: lumba-lumba, lumbalumba
Tahitian: please add this translation if you can
Tajik: делфин (delfin)
Tamil: ஓங்கில் (ta) (ōṅkil)
Ternate: kohia, kahia
Thai: โลมา (th) (loo-maa), ปลาโลมา (bplaa loo-maa)
Tibetan: མཚོ་ཕག (mtsho phag)
Tidore: kahia
Tigrinya: ኣቡ ሰላማ (ʾabu sälama)
Tongan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: yunus (tr), delfin (tr), ırgay
Turkmen: delfin
Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎐𐎃𐎗 (ảnḫr)
Ukrainian: дельфі́н m (delʹfín)
Urdu: ڈالفن (ḍolfin)
Uyghur: دېلفىن (dëlfin)
Uzbek: delfin (uz)
Venetan: dolfin (vec), delfin
Vietnamese: cá heo (vi)
Welsh: dolffin (cy) m
West Frisian: dolfin
Yámana: sauyánux
Yanyuwa: miriyi
Yiddish: דעלפֿין m (delfin)
Zulu: ihlengethwa (zu) :

#### See also

* cetacean
* killer whale
* pod
* porpoise
* sea lion
* seal
* whale

### Etymology 2

Ultimately from 3rd Duke of Alba (duc-d’Albe in French), who was the first to build this type of structure in the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century. Possibly from Dutch dukdalf, or the plural dukdalven, through elision of the initial duk-.

#### Noun

dolphin (plural dolphins)
* (nautical) A man-made semi submerged maritime structure, usually installed to provide a fixed structure for temporary mooring, to prevent ships from drifting to shallow water or to serve as base for navigational aids.

##### Translations
### References

* “dolphin”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “dolphin”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* ↑ 1841, Richard Henry Dana Jr., The Seaman's Friend

### Anagrams

* pinhold

## Middle English
### Proper noun

dolphin
* Alternative form of Dauphin