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I just started to read an article about sperm whales in latest Smithsonian, when it
occurred to me that I did not know why they were so named. I know that one of
the valuable substances they provide is "spermaceti" which goes back to Middle
English, and is a white wax-like substance taken from the oil in the head of the
whale. I find it hard to believe that it is so named for any resemblance to the
male sexual ejaculate. I found some good sites about the whales on the Internet,
but no mention about how the name was derived. Who can tell me?
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I know that one of the valuable substances they provide is "spermaceti" which goes back to Middle English, and is a white wax-like substance taken from the oil in the head of the whaleBill, I've heard more than once that this is indeed why sperm whales are so called. Spermaceti was definitely reckoned to be semen-like, and at one time may have been assumed to be semen. I'd assume there was some archaic zoological theory (cf Humours and all that) that explained why it should be found in a whale's head. Mind you, do whale's have testes that are readily identifiable as such?  They'd have to be retractable, I'd imagine...  "Oi Moby - you're a Dick with no balls!"  
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Dear fishonabike: I find it hard to believe that even in the Middle Ages people were
ignorant enough to think any animal had it sex glands in its head. I have read of
spermaceti candles. But no semen was ever like that.
And for all their marine adaptations, whales are descendants of land animals,
and their genitals are still closely analogous to their ancestors. The bull whales
may have sex on their ?ninds" but no semen in their noses! Incidentally, imagine
the females giving birth without the young drowning!
Come to think of it, the whales had to invent the missionary position before
there were any missionaries. They could not outdo the turtles.
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Better her than me The newborn calf is about 13 feet (4 m) long and weighs about 1 ton (0.9 tonnes).
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ETYMOLOGY (Supplied by a Late Consumptive Usher to a Grammar School) The pale Usher- threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars, with a queer handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags of all the known nations of the world. He loved to dust his old grammars; it somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality. "While you take in hand to school others, and to teach them by what name a whale-fish is to be called in our tongue leaving out, through ignorance, the letter H, which almost alone maketh the signification of the word, you deliver that which is not true." HACKLUYT "WHALE. * * * Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is named from roundness or rolling; for in Dan. hvalt is arched or vaulted." WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY "WHALE. * * * It is more immediately from the Dut. and Ger. Wallen; A.S. Walw-ian, to roll, to wallow." RICHARDSON'S DICTIONARY KETOS, Greek. CETUS, Latin. WHOEL, Anglo-Saxon. HVALT, Danish. WAL, Dutch. HWAL, Swedish. WHALE, Icelandic. WHALE, English. BALEINE, French. BALLENA, Spanish. PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Fegee. PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Erromangoan. http://www.americanliterature.com/MD/ETOM.HTML
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I finally found the etymology, and I am hard put to comprehend how such a stupid
misconception could have arisen!
sperm - c.1375, probably from O.Fr. esperme, from L.L.
sperma "seed, semen," from Gk. sperma "seed," from speirein
"to sow, scatter," from I.E. *sper- "to strew." Sperm whale
(1830) is a shortening of spermaceti whale (so called because
the waxy substance in its head was mistaken for sperm), from
spermaceti (1471), from M.L. sperma ceti "sperm of a whale"
(from L. cetus "large sea animal"). Spermatozoon is an 1836
formation from Gk. spermato-, combining form of sperma (gen.
spermatos) + zoion "animal."
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"Mind you, do whale's have testes that are readily identifiable as such?
They'd have to be retractable, I'd imagine..."
"Oi Moby - you're a Dick with no balls!" Ha HA Ha! ~~ fishonabikeUh...fishonabike, a fish that gets around as much as you might be more sensible than to verbally tug on the cape of the Superman of the seas - >>MOBY DICK<<. Moby Dick was a Right Whale, right?... Now for the fun part. Not all whales are created equal in terms of
genital equipment. Blue whales, which are the largest animals on Earth, have a pair of testes that weigh a "mere" 26 kg - remarkably small for such a giant beast. Right whales are at the other extreme; a male which may be half the length of a large blue whale male, and weigh a lot less,
has testes (i.e. balls) weighing - wait for it! - one ton! Largest in the animal kingdom.] ~ Phil Clapham A dick with no balls indeed. ~~~ 
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Dear Milum: I think Phil Clapham exaggerates a bit. I found a couple sites about whale testicles, and both gave much less impressive weights. One could not be copied, but here is one that could be: "in the largest cetacean, the blue whale, the testes may be 45cm long and weigh 45kg each. 45kg times 2.2 lb/kg equals 99 pounds. And, for a site about sex records, see: http://www.world-sex-records.com/sex-321.htm
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Dear wwh,
Maybeso bill, but if so, I know two of the fighting Turner boys from Blount county that could give the the lesser whales a taste of comeuppance when it comes to having balls. Besides I don't trust a man when he talks about handling other folks balls...(as in your url source below)
"As has been pointed out, even when the whale testes have been located they are hard to handle since they weigh 60, 15, and 25 lb. in Fin, Sei, and Sperm whales respectively. In Blue Whales the testes may be more than two feet six inches long and weigh up to 100 lb, each!"
(I am also mindful of the fact that this is not a fitting subject for public discussion. There are ladies who read these postings, and I, for one, refuse to say anymore about the size of the balls of Moby's, or for that matter, anyones, Dick.) - mw
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Dear Milum: Now you're hurting my feelings. I had duty as a peckerchecker, and never
had anybody distrust me.
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