baleen

Etymology

From Middle English baleyne, from Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina, “whale”).

noun

1. (physiology, uncountable) The keratinous material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.
   You have probably never seen anything like this before, Mr. Toler. It is baleen, or if you prefer it, whalebone, taken from the mouth of the bowhead whale. It is used by the whale to filter its food. 1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 5, in The Subtle Minotaur
2. (zoology, countable) A baleen whale,
   Scammon estimates the number of baleens killed in the years 1835-72 at 131,000; once again, his figure needs to be adjusted. 2007, Lance E. Davis, In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits
3. (obsolete) A whale or other large fish.
   The Balene is a fishe great and huge, much like to the Whale, and is so called, because of his outcasting and shedding of water, for they throwe water higher then other great fishes of the sea. 1572, John Bossewell, Workes of Armorie