# whale

> English word · Noun · IPA /weɪl/ · frequency rank #7,410

## Definitions
1. Any one of numerous large marine mammals comprising an informal group within infraorder Cetacea that usually excludes dolphins and porpoises.
2. Any species of Cetacea.
3. Something, or someone, that is very large.
4. Something, or someone, that is excellent.
5. A gambler who routinely wagers large amounts of money.
6. An investor who deals with very large amounts of money.
7. A person who spends large amounts of money on things that are marketed to them.
8. An overweight person (usually a woman)

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos
Proto-Germanic *hwalaz
Proto-West Germanic *hwal
Old English hwæl
Middle English whal
English whale
From Middle English whal, whale, from Old English hwæl (“whale”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (“whale”) (compare German Wal, Swedish val, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hval, Norwegian Nynorsk kval; compare also Dutch walvis, West Frisian walfisk, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”) (compare German Wels, Latin squalus (“big sea fish”), Old Prussian kalis, Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος (áspalos), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬀 (kara, “kind of fish”)).

## Easily confused with
- **what** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-what)
- **wham** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-wham)
- **wile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-wile)
- **where** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-where)
- **while** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-while)
- **white** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-white)
- **whole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whole)
- **whose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whose)
- **whats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whats)
- **whore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whore)
- **wharf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-wharf)
- **whine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whine)
- **Whyte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whyte)
- **whales** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whales)
- **Whalen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whale-vs-whalen)
- **WAL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wal-vs-whale)
- **wha** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wha-vs-whale)
- **walk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-whale)
- **wall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wall-vs-whale)
- **wake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-whale)

## Common misspellings (7)
`hwale`, `wahle`, `whael`, `whalle`, `whhale`, `whlae`, `wwhale`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/whale