Standard Lemma guide

bowhead

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈbəʊhɛd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A large baleen whale, of species Balaena mysticetus, having a large, rounded head, that inhabits Arctic waters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

large-mouthed Arctic whale

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bowhead whale, Greenland whale, Balaena mysticetus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: baleen whale, whalebone whale

History

Etymology

From bow + head.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: qrenlandiya balinası — Balaena mysticetus
  • Basque: groenlandiar balea — Balaena mysticetus
  • Belarusian: грэнландскі кіт (hrenlandski kit) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Bulgarian: гренландски кит (grenlandski kit) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Catalan: balena de Groenlàndia — Balaena mysticetus
  • Catalan: balena franca àrtica — Balaena mysticetus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 弓頭鯨 /弓头鲸 — Balaena mysticetus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 北極鯨 /北极鲸 (běijíjīng) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Chukchi: йитив (jitiv) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Czech: velryba grónská — Balaena mysticetus
  • Danish: grønlandshval — Balaena mysticetus
  • Dutch: Groenlandse walvis — Balaena mysticetus
  • Esperanto: gronlanda baleno — Balaena mysticetus
  • Estonian: grööni vaal — Balaena mysticetus
  • Faroese: grønlandsslættibøka — Balaena mysticetus
  • Finnish: grönlanninvalas — Balaena mysticetus
  • French: baleine boréale — Balaena mysticetus
  • Georgian: გრენლანდიური ვეშაპი (grenlandiuri vešaṗi) — Balaena mysticetus
  • German: Grönlandwal — Balaena mysticetus
  • Greenlandic: arfivik — Balaena mysticetus
  • Hebrew: בלנה גרינלנדית — Balaena mysticetus
  • Hungarian: grönlandi bálna — Balaena mysticetus
  • Icelandic: norðhvalur — Balaena mysticetus
  • Inuktitut: ᐊᕐᕕᒃ (arfik) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Irish: míol mór ceann bogha — Balaena mysticetus
  • Italian: balena della Groenlandia — Balaena mysticetus
  • Japanese: ホッキョククジラ (hokkyokukujira) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Kazakh: поляр киті (polär kitı) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Korean: 북극고래 (bukgeukgorae) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Latin: Balaena mysticetus — Balaena mysticetus
  • Latvian: polārais valis — Balaena mysticetus
  • Latvian: grenlandes valis — Balaena mysticetus
  • Macedonian: гренландски кит (grenlandski kit) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: grønlandshval — Balaena mysticetus
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: grønlandskval — Balaena mysticetus
  • Polish: wal grenlandzki — Balaena mysticetus
  • Polish: wieloryb grenlandzki — Balaena mysticetus
  • Portuguese: baleia-da-groenlândia — Balaena mysticetus
  • Russian: гренла́ндский кит (grenlándskij kit) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Russian: поля́рный кит (poljárnyj kit) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Slovak: veľryba grónska — Balaena mysticetus
  • Spanish: ballena boreal — Balaena mysticetus
  • Swedish: grönlandsval — Balaena mysticetus
  • Thai: วาฬหัวคันศร (waan-hǔua-kan-sɔ̌ɔn) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Turkish: grönland balinası — Balaena mysticetus
  • Ukrainian: ґренландський кит (grenlandsʹkyj kyt) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Ukrainian: полярний кит (poljarnyj kyt) — Balaena mysticetus
  • Uzbek: grenlandiya kiti — Balaena mysticetus
Real reading context

bowhead in complete knowledge articles