Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Dolphin |
DolphinNoun1. Large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii). 2. Any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "dolphin" was first used: sometime around 1350. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Building & Civil Engineering | A fixed mooring in the open sea formed by a cluster of timber or steel piles driven into the sea bed; a guide for ships entering a harbour with a mouth. Source: European Union. (references) |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of a dolphin, indicates your liability to come under a new government. It is not a very good dream. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Food & Agriculture | Permanent moorings in which the vessel is tied up fore and aft to clusters of piles to prevent it from swinging with changes of wind and tide and to enable it to load or discharge in lighters. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Dolphin Called a sea-goose (oie de mer) from the form of its snout, termed in French bec d'oie (a goose's beak). The dolphin is noted for its changes of colour when taken out of the water. "Parting day Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues With a new colour as it gasps away, The last still loveliest." Byron: Childe Harold, canto iv. stanza 29. Dolphin (The), in mediæval art, symbolises social love. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
''This article is about the dolphin mammal. For other uses of the term, please see dolphin (disambiguation). Dolphins are certain aquatic mammals related to whales and porpoises.
Dusky DolphinsThe word is used in a few different ways. It can mean:
Wikipedia uses definition 2 above.
- any member of the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins),
- any member of the families Delphinidae and Platanistoidae (oceanic and river dolphins),
- any member of the suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales; these include the above families and some others),
- laymen often use the term synonymously with Bottlenose Dolphin, the most common and familiar species of dolphin.
Porpoises (suborder Odontoceti, family Phocoenidae) are thus not dolphins in our sense. Killer Whales and some related species belong to the Delphinidae family and therefore qualify as dolphins, even though they are called whales in common language.
There are almost 40 species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from 1.2 metres and 40 kg (Heaviside's Dolphin), up to 7 metres and 4.5 tonnes (the Killer Whale). Most species weigh between about 50 and about 200 kg. They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and all are carnivores, mostly taking fish and squid.
The dolphin family is the largest in the Cetacea, and relatively recent: dolphins evolved about 10 million years ago, during the Miocene.
Taxonomy
Six animals in the family Delphinidae are commonly called "whales" but are strictly speaking dolphins. They are sometimes called "blackfish":
- Suborder Odontoceti, toothed whales
- Family Delphinidae, oceanic Dolphins
- Genus Delphinus
- Long-Beaked Common Dolphin, Delphinus capensis
- Short-Beaked Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis
- Genus Tursiops
- Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus
- Genus Lissodelphis
- Northern Rightwhale Dolphin, Lissodelphis borealis
- Southern Rightwhale Dolphin, Lissiodelphis peronii
- Genus Sotalia
- Tucuxi, Sotalia fluviatilis
- Genus Sousa
- Indo-Pacific Hump-backed Dolphin Sousa chinensis
- Chinese White Dolphin is the Chinese variant
- Atlantic Humpbacked Dolphin, Sousa teuszii
- Genus Stenella
- Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Stenella frontalis
- Clymene Dolphin, Stenella clymene
- Pantropical Spotted Dolphin, Stenella attenuata
- Spinner Dolphin, Stenella longirostris
- Striped Dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba
- Genus Steno
- Rough-Toothed Dolphin, Steno bredanensis
- Genus Cephalorynchus
- Chilean Dolphin, Cephalorhynchus eutropia
- Commerson's Dolphin, Cephalorhynchus commersonii
- Heaviside's Dolphin, Cephalorhynchus heavisidii
- Hector's Dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori
- Genus Grampus
- Risso's Dolphin, Grampus griseus
- Genus Lagenodelphis
- Fraser's Dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei
- Genus Lagenorhyncus
- Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus acutus
- Dusky Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obscurus
- Hourglass Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus cruciger
- Pacific White-Sided Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
- Peale's Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus australis
- White-Beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris
- Genus Orcaella
- Irrawaddy Dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris
- Genus Peponocephalia
- Melon-headed Whale, Peponocephalia electra
- Genus Orcinus
- Killer Whale, Orcinus orca
- Genus Feresa
- Pygmy Killer Whale, Feresa attenuata
- Genus Psudoorca
- False Killer Whale, Psudoorca crassidens
- Genus Globicephala
- Long-finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala melas
- Short-finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus
- Family Platanistoidae, River Dolphins
- Genus Inia
- Boto (Amazon River Dolphin,)Inia geoffrensis
- Genus Lipotes
- Chinese River Dolphin (Baiji) Lipotes vexillife
- Genus Platanista
- Ganges River Dolphin Platanista gangetica
- Indus River Dolphin Platanista minor
- Genus Pontoporia
- La Plata Dolphin (Franciscana) Pontoporia blainvillei
- Melon-headed Whale, Peponocephalia electra
- Killer Whale, Orcinus orca
- Pygmy Killer Whale, Feresa attenuata
- False Killer Whale, Psudoorca crassidens
- Long-finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala melas
- Short-finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus
Dolphin anatomy
- still missing.
Dolphin behaviour
Dolphins are amongst the most intelligent of all animals. See the Dolphin brain article for more details.Dolphins are also famous for their willingness to occassionally approach humans and interact with them in the water. In return, in some cultures like in Ancient Greece treated with welcome, such as the idea of a ship spotting dolphins riding in their wake was considered a good omen for a smooth voyage.
Dolphin lore
The popular television show Flipper, created by Ivan Tors, portrayed a dolphin in a friendly relationship with two boys, Sandy and Bud; kind of a sea-going Lassie, he seemed to understand human speech: "Go tell Dad we're in trouble, Flipper! Hurry!" The show's theme song contains the lyric no one you see/is smarter than he.
External link
- Cetacea.org site
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dolphin."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The most common use of the word dolphin is to describe the aquatic mammal. See dolphin. Dolphin (or more properly, dolphinfish) is also used to describe a species of fish, Coryphaena hippurus, which is unrelated to the mammal. The name is being used less frequently than in times past, and has generally been replaced with its Polynesian name, mahi-mahi, to avoid confusion with the mammal, especially since the fish is commonly eaten. In Spanish, this fish is also referred to as a dorado. Dolphin was the code name for the Nintendo Gamecube before it was released. Dauphin (French for dolphin) was a title adopted by many French kings and aristocrats, received originally from Humbert II.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dolphin (disambiguation)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Dolphins appear in a number of Greek myths, invariably as helpers of humankind. Dolphins also seem to have been important to the Minoans, judging by artistic evidence from the ruined palace at Knossos.A dolphin rescued the poet Arion from drowning and carried him safe to land, at Cape Taenarum, now Cape Matapan, a promontory forming the southernmost point of the Peloponnesus. There was a temple to Poseidon and a statue of Arion riding the dolphin. (Herodotus I.23; Thucydides I.128, 133; Pausanias iii.25, 4)
The Greeks reimagined the Phoenician god Melkart as Melikertês (Melicertes) and made him the son of Athamas and Ino. He drowned but was transfigured as the marine deity Palaemon, while his mother became Leucothea. (cf Ino.) At Corinth, he was so closely connected with the cult of Poseidon that the Isthmian Games, originally instituted in Poseidon's honor, came to be looked upon as the funeral games of Melikertes.
Phalanthus was another legendary character brought safely to shore (in Italy) on the back of a dolphin, according to Pausanias.
Many seals and coins show a man or boy riding a dolphin.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dolphin (mythology)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Dolphin is a pub on the Barbican of Plymouth, England. It is a no-frills pub, justly famous for its real ale, which is draught Bass - served straight from the barrel - very rare these days. The pub has the reputation of serving the best Bass in the south west. Many of the famous (erstwhile) Plymouth artist Beryl Cook's paintings are set in or around the Dolphin.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dolphin (Plymouth pub)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Dolphin Interconnect Solutions is a manufacturer of high speed data communication systems, located in Natick, Massachusetts, USA and Oslo, Norway.The technology of Dolphin was based on development at Norsk Data. Initially as Dolphin Server Technology AS, but later concentrated on technology for very high speed communication between servers.
External links
- Dolphin Interconnect Solutions
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dolphin Interconnect Solutions."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
DOLPHIN | English | Cooperation in Advanced Communications in Europe | Computing |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: DolphinSynonyms: dolphinfish (n), mahimahi (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Ocean | Hydrography, hydrographer; Neptune, Poseidon, Thetis, Triton, Naiad, Nereid; sea nymph, Siren; trident, dolphin. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Dolphin |
| English words defined with "dolphin": Aldine, Atlantic bottlenose dolphin ♦ Bottle-nose ♦ common dolphin, Coryphaenoid, Coryphene ♦ Delphin, Delphine, Delphinic, Delphinoid, Delphinus delphis, Dolphinet ♦ Gobline, grampus, Grampus griseus ♦ Inia ♦ Martingal ♦ Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Phocenic ♦ Sea pig, Soosoo ♦ Torqued, Tursiops gilli, Tursiops truncatus ♦ Valerin. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "dolphin": Arion ♦ Shields. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "dolphin": Soosoo. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Cirrus, Socrates, particle, decibel, hurricane, dolphin, tulip (Artificial Intelligence: AI; writing credit: Ian Watson) Oh, look at me, I'm a flippy little dolphin, let me flip for you (Finding Nemo; writing credit: Andrew Stanton) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Day of the Dolphin (1973) Boy on a Dolphin (1957) Green Dolphin Street (1947) Dispatch Boat Dolphin (1898) Ecco the Dolphin (1992) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
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Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Pacific white-sided dolphin leaping. Lagenorhynchus obliquidens. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |  | Pantropical spotted dolphin skipping on its tail over the water. Stenella attenuata. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |
 | Microwave navigation instrument setup on dolphin. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Common Dolphin (Dephinus delphis) cavorting in the bow wave of the NOAA Ship PEIRCE. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | A fish cleaning expert awaits the next load of fish to land at the Dolphin Docks. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | Dolphin running ahead of the JOHN N. COBB. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
 | The O'Clock family cavorting with the dolphins at Monkey Mia near Shark Bay. These dolphin are wild and associate with humans with no training or coercion (except food.). Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | In the Grotta del Genovese. This small grotto has paintings dating back some 6,000 years, including the outline of a tuna and the outline of a dolphin. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | An expert fish cleaner awaits the days' catch at Dolphin Docks. Credit: Fisheries. |  | A Norther Right Whale Dolphin. Credit: Sanctuaries. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Dolphin Beach" by Chilli D Commentary: "The sun was setting over Dolphin Beach, Cape Town (South Africa)." | "Dolphin" by Igor Beres Commentary: "Dolphin." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | It was a lake of rainbow light, in which, for a short while, I lived like a dolphin. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Norway | Dolphin Interconnect Solutions and Kongsberg Electronics produce computer cards, chips and components. (references) |
Uae | Th Dolphin consortium will develop Qatar's North Field tract, drilling and setting up production facilities for an approximate cost of US $ 2 billion. (references) | |
Uae | Phase I of the Dolphin Project involves development of gas reserves in Qatar's North Filed and transportation of 2 bcf/d of natural gas for UAE markets. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Dolphin" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 90.51% of the time. "Dolphin" is used about 610 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 90.51% | 552 | 11,288 |
| Noun (proper) | 8.51% | 52 | 47,145 |
| Noun (common) | 0.98% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Total | 100.00% | 610 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "dolphin" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Dolphin | Last name | 1,000 | 10,924 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| Country | Name | Country | Name |
| United Kingdom | Brewin Dolphin Holdings PLC | USA | Blue Dolphin Energy Company |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
1. Dolphin, VA |
Expressions using "dolphin": Atlantic bottlenose dolphin ♦ bottlenose dolphin ♦ common dolphin ♦ Dolphin fly ♦ dolphin kick ♦ dolphin oil ♦ Dolphin striker ♦ Pacific bottlenose dolphin ♦ river dolphin. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "dolphin": dolphin-class, dolphin-friendly, dolphin-kill, dolphin-language, dolphin-lengths, dolphin-like, dolphin-protection, dolphin-safe, dolphin-safe', dolphin-saving, dolphin-shaped. | |
Ending with "dolphin": half-dolphin, tuna-dolphin. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
dolphin | 16,089 | dolphin wallpaper | 383 |
dolphin figurine | 6,203 | dolphin photo | 273 |
dolphin and tour | 4,657 | dolphin pic | 257 |
dolphin swim | 3,304 | dolphin mall | 251 |
miami dolphin | 3,294 | island of the blue dolphin | 184 |
dolphin picture | 2,139 | blue dolphin | 168 |
dolphin gift | 1,684 | dolphin information | 159 |
dolphin watching | 1,662 | dolphin screensaver | 146 |
dolphin poster | 1,644 | dolphin clipart | 111 |
dolphin art | 1,528 | ticket to the miami dolphin | 107 |
dolphin animal | 1,391 | dolphin fish | 106 |
dolphin statue | 1,251 | dolphin whale | 101 |
dolphin jewelry | 1,213 | dolphin island | 97 |
dolphin t shirt | 1,170 | dolphin background | 97 |
stuffed dolphin | 1,136 | ecco the dolphin | 93 |
dolphin tattoo | 852 | the dolphin quest | 92 |
dolphin toy | 800 | pink dolphin | 91 |
bottlenose dolphin | 668 | design dolphin tattoo | 90 |
swim with dolphin | 637 | pool dolphin | 88 |
dolphin swimming | 500 | dolphin bedding | 87 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "dolphin"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | delfin (grampus, porpoise), pluskues udhëtregues, bovë (buoy, Dan). (various references) | |
Arabic | كوكبة الدلفين, دلفين (porpoise). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | кнехт, вързало (bollard), вид златна рибка, делфин. (various references) | |
Chamorro | dofen. (various references) | |
Chinese | 海豚 , 导靠浮标. (various references) | |
Czech | delfín. (various references) | |
Danish | duc d'albe (pile mooring, piled dolphin), delfin, pælefortøjning (pile mooring), fendervaerk (piled dolphin). (various references) | |
Dutch | dukdalf (pile mooring), ducdalf (duc d'albe, mooring dolphin, piled dolphin), dolfijn (beaked whale, pile mooring), dolfýn. (various references) | |
Esperanto | delfeno. (various references) | |
Faeroese | delfin, springari. (various references) | |
Farsi | ماهی یونس , گرازدریاءی (Porpoise). (various references) | |
Finnish | diktaali (pile mooring), delfiini, tihtaali (pile mooring), paalukko (pile mooring), paaluke (pile mooring). (various references) | |
French | dauphin. (various references) | |
German | delphin (dolphine), tümmler (porpoise, tumbler, tumblers). (various references) | |
Greek | δελφίνι (larkspur). (various references) | |
Hebrew | תחש, דולפין (porpoise). (various references) | |
Hungarian | delfin (porpoise), kikötőbója, delfin hajókikötőbak, arany makrahal, ágyúcsőfogantyú. (various references) | |
Indonesian | dolfin, dalfin, ikan lumba-lumba (porpoise), flipper. (various references) | |
Italian | delfino (dauphin, porpoise). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 海豚 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | いるか. (various references) | |
Korean | 돌고래 (Porpoise). (various references) | |
Manx | doraid (dorado). (various references) | |
Norwegian | delfin. (various references) | |
Papiamen | dòlfein. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | olphinday.(various references) | |
Portuguese | golfinho (porpoise), delfim (dauphin). (various references) | |
Romanian | delfin. (various references) | |
Russian | дельфин. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | delfin. (various references) | |
Spanish | delfín (dauphin). (various references) | |
Sranan | profosu. (various references) | |
Swedish | delfin. (various references) | |
Tahitian | mahi-mahi (dolphin-fish). (various references) | |
Thai | ปลาโลมา. (various references) | |
Turkish | yunusbalığı türünden balık, yunus balíği, yunus (Dorada, grampus), palamar babası (moor-post). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | дельфін. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | phao. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | cete, ceti, cetum, cetus, delphin, delphinus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "dolphin": dolphinfish, dolphinfishes, dolphins. (additional references) | |
| |
"Dolphin" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: adolfoi, Delaphena, delfin, Delfino, delphian, Delphyne, deplhi, dlophin, dlphin, dolfin, Dolohov, dolphen, Dolphie, dolphine, dophin, drophar, Kolshin. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "dolphin" (pronounced dÄ"lfun) |
| 3 | -f u n | acetaminophen, deafen, endorphin, Griffon, hyphen, ibuprofen, morphin, muffin, often, orphan, paraffin, siphon, soften, stiffen, syphon, tamoxifen, toughen. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-h-i-l-n-o-p" | |
-2 letters: indol, poind. | |
-3 letters: diol, hind, hold, holp, idol, lido, lino, lion, loin, nodi, noil, phon, pion, plod, pond. | |
-4 letters: din, dip, dol, don, hid, hin, hip, hod, hon, hop, ion, lid, lin, lip, lop, nil, nip, nod, noh, oil, old, phi, pin, pod, poh, poi, pol. | |
-5 letters: do, hi, ho, id, in, li, lo. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-h-i-l-n-o-p" | |
+1 letter: dolphins. | |
+2 letters: hypnoidal, upholding. | |
+3 letters: indophenol, sphenoidal, unpolished. | |
+4 letters: clodhopping, depolishing, diphthongal, dolphinfish, indophenols, philodendra, pigeonholed, podophyllin. | |
+5 letters: diaphanously, diencephalon, hydroplaning, perichondral, philodendron, podophyllins. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Names: Frequency | 13. Names: Company Usage 14. Cities 15. Expressions 16. Expressions: Internet | 17. Translations: Modern 18. Translations: Ancient 19. Abbreviations 20. Acronyms | 21. Derivations 22. Rhymes 23. Anagrams 24. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
