/mis"teuh seet'/ , n. Zool.
any whale of the suborder Mysticeti, as finback and humpback whales, characterized by a symmetrical skull, paired blowholes, and rows of baleen plates for feeding on plankton. Cf. odontocete .
[ 1825-35; Mysticeti, pl. of Mysticetus mystíketos or mys tò kêtos whalebone whale, lit., mouse-whale (term used in extant texts of Aristotle, perh. a corruption of * mystakóketos mustache-whale; see MUSTACHIO, CET-) ]