whalefish

From whale +‎ fish. Compare West Frisian walfisk, Dutch walvis (“whale”), German Low German Waalfisch, German Walfisch (“whale”), Danish hvalfisk (“whale”), Icelandic hvalfiskur.

whalefish (plural whalefishes or whalefish)

1. (dated) A whale.
   • ca. 1855, anonymous author, “Lord Franklin”:

     In Baffin's Bay where the whale-fish blow,
     The fate of Franklin no man may know

2. Any fish of the order Cetomimiformes of deepwater ray-finned fish.

The usage of "whalefish" to refer to a cetacean has fallen out of fashion, as the stricter scientific definition of "fish" has become more or less universal.

• flabby whalefish (Cetomimidae spp.)
• redmouth whalefish (Rondeletiidae spp.)
• velvet whalefish (Barbourisiidae spp.)

• Bislama: welfis