whale: [OE] Whale comes from a prehistoric Germanic *khwal-, which also produced Swedish and Danish hval and the wal- of German walfisch ‘whale’. The expression a whale of, meaning ‘no end of’, originated in the USA towards the end of the 19th century.
whale (n.)
Old English hw?l "whale," also "walrus," from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (cognates: Old Saxon hwal, Old Norse hvalr, hvalfiskr, Swedish val, Middle Dutch wal, walvisc, Dutch walvis, Old High German wal, German Wal), from PIE *(s)kwal-o- (cognates: Latin squalus "a kind of large sea fish"). Phrase whale of a "excellent or large example" is c. 1900, student slang. Whale-oil attested from mid-15c.
whale (v.2)
"beat, whip severely," 1790, possibly a variant of wale (v.) "to mark with 'wales' or stripes" (early 15c.), from wale (n.). Related: Whaled; whaling.
whale (v.1)
"pursue the business of whale-fishing," 1700, from whale (n.). Whale-fishing is attested from 1570s.
例文
1. The blue whale is the largest living thing on the planet.
シロナガスクジラは地球上で最も体形の大きい生物である。
2.I had a whale of a time in Birmingham.
バーミンガムでとても楽しい時間を過ごしました。
3.Norwegian whalers said yesterday they had harpooned a female minke whale .
ノルウェーの捕鯨人は昨日、捕鯨フォークでメスのミンククジラを捕獲したと言った。
4. Whale ?watching has become a growth leisure industry.