seal

/siːl/

seal

English Noun Top 3,122
American (Lessac) (medium)
Female 0.6s
American (Amy) (medium)
Female 0.7s
American (Ryan) (medium)
Male 0.6s
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Definition

A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.

Etymology

From Middle English sel, from an inflectional form of Old English seolh, from Proto-West Germanic *selh, from Proto-Germanic *selhaz (compare Scots selch,selkie, North Frisian selich, Middle Dutch seel, zēle, Old High German selah, Danish sæl, Middle Low German sale, Icelandic selur), either from Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to pull”) (compare dialectal English sullow (“plough”)) or from early Proto-Finnic *šülkeš (later *hülgeh, compare dialectal Finnish hylki, standard hylje, Estonian hüljes).

Example Sentences

  • "The seals in the harbor looked better than they smelled."
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