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==Naming== Orcas are often referred to as "killer whales" because ancient sailors saw them hunt larger whales.<ref name="whales.org">{{cite web |title=Facts about orcas (killer whales) |url=https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/facts-about-orcas/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208153903/https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/facts-about-orcas/ |archive-date=February 8, 2022 |access-date=8 February 2022 |website=Whales.org |publisher=Whale & Dolphin Conservation USA}}</ref> Since the 1960s, the term "orca" has increasingly replaced "killer whale" in common usage.<ref name="price">{{cite web|first=Mary |last=Price|url=https://blog.nwf.org/2013/07/orcas-how-science-debunked-superstition/|title=Orcas: How Science Debunked Superstition|publisher=National Wildlife Federation|date=22 July 2013|access-date=30 July 2020|archive-date=January 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131095114/http://blog.nwf.org/2013/07/orcas-how-science-debunked-superstition/|url-status=live}}</ref> Although some sources suggests that ''Orcinus'' means 'of the kingdom of the dead',{{sfn|Ford|Ellis|Balcomb|2000|p=69}} the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature|International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]] (ICZN) mentions that the name orca originates from Latin word ''orca'', meaning 'a large-bellied pot.' ''Orcinus'' is a derived form created by adding a masculine suffix to it.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Code Online {{!}} International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |url=https://www.iczn.org/the-code/the-code-online/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=www.iczn.org}}</ref> [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Romans]] originally used ''orca''<ref>{{cite dictionary |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dorca1 |title= orca |last1= Lewis |first1= Charlton T. |last2= Short |first2= Charles |dictionary= A Latin Dictionary |edition= |publisher= Perseus Digital Library |date= 1879 |access-date= October 7, 2022 |archive-date= October 7, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221007112944/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry%3Dorca1 |url-status= live }}</ref> ({{plural form}} ''orcae'') for these animals, possibly borrowing [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|ὄρυξ}} (''óryx''), which was used for various whale species potentially including the [[narwhal]].<ref name="Liddel">{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do)%2Fruc |title=ὄρυξ |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |work=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |date=1940 |access-date=October 9, 2023 |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526021534/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do)%2Fruc |url-status=live }}</ref> They are sometimes referred to as 'blackfish', a term also used for other cetaceans. Historically, 'grampus' was another name for the species,<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15565896#page/229/mode/1up|last=Fitzinger |first=L. J. |date=1860|title=Wissenschaftlich-populäre Naturgeschichte der Säugethiere in ihren sämmtlichen Hauptformen: nebst einer Einleitung in die Naturgeschichte uberhaupt und in die Lehre von den Thieren insbesondere |place=Wien |journal=Aus der Kaiserlich-königlichen hof- und staatsdrucherei |volume=6 |page=204–217|language=de}}</ref> though it is now rarely used. This usage should not be confused with the genus ''Grampus'', which includes only [[Risso's dolphin]] (''Grampus griseus'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leatherwood |first1=Stephen |first2=Larry J. |last2=Hobbs |date=1988 |url=https://archive.org/details/whalesdolphinsp000leat/page/118 |title=Whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the eastern North Pacific and adjacent Arctic waters: a guide to their identification |page=118 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=0-486-25651-0 |access-date= January 28, 2010}}</ref>
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