■ noun chiefly historical oil obtained from the blubber of a whale, especially the right whale.
Origin
C16: from obs. train '~', from Mid. Low Ger. trän , MDu. traen , lit. 'tear' (because it was extracted in droplets).
■ noun chiefly historical oil obtained from the blubber of a whale, especially the right whale.
Origin
C16: from obs. train '~', from Mid. Low Ger. trän , MDu. traen , lit. 'tear' (because it was extracted in droplets).
Concise Oxford English vocab. Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2004