Editing Walrus (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Walrus on Carta Marina.jpeg|left|thumb|Walrus, labeled ''Ros marus piscis'', is depicted in а 16th-century map of [[Scandinavia]] (the [[Carta Marina]])]]
The origin of the word ''walrus'' derives from a [[Germanic language]], and it has been attributed largely to either [[Dutch language|Dutch]] or [[Old Norse]]. Its first part is thought to derive from a word such as Old Norse {{Lang|non|hvalr}} ('whale') and the second part has been hypothesized to come from the Old Norse word {{Lang|non|hross}} ('horse').<ref>{{cite web | url = http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/walrus | title = Walrus | work = Dictionary.reference.com | access-date = 16 September 2011 }}</ref> For example, the Old Norse word {{Lang|non|hrosshvalr}} means 'horse-whale' and is thought to have been passed in an inverted form to both Dutch and the dialects of northern Germany as {{Lang|nl|walros}} and {{Lang|de|Walross}}.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Nielsen NÅ | title = Dansk Etymologisk Ordbog: Ordenes Historie | publisher = Gyldendal | date = 1976 }}</ref> An alternative theory is that it comes from the Dutch words {{Lang|nl|wal}} 'shore' and {{Lang|nl|reus}} 'giant'.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://iberianature.com/britainnature/miscellaneous/etymology-of-mammal-names-in-english/ | title = Etymology of mammal names | work = Iberianature.com | date = 29 December 2010 | access-date = 16 September 2011 }}</ref>

The species name ''rosmarus'' is Scandinavian. The Norwegian manuscript ''[[Konungs skuggsjá]]'', thought to date from around AD 1240, refers to the walrus as {{Lang|non|rosmhvalr}} in Iceland and {{Lang|non|rostungr}} in Greenland (walruses were by now extinct in Iceland and Norway, while the word evolved in Greenland). Several place names in Iceland, Greenland and Norway may originate from walrus sites: Hvalfjord, Hvallatrar and Hvalsnes to name some, all being typical walrus breeding grounds.

The archaic English word for walrus—''morse''—is widely thought to have come from the [[Slavic languages]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://dictionary.oed.com/ | title = morse, n., etymology of | work = The Oxford English Dictionary | edition = 2nd | date = 1989 | publisher = OED Online. Oxford University Press | access-date = 4 October 2007 | archive-date = 25 June 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> which in turn borrowed it from Finno-Ugric languages, and ultimately (according to [[Ante Aikio]]) from an unknown [[Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate]] language of Northern Europe.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_aikio.pdf | title = An essay on Saami ethnolinguistic prehistory | author = Luobbal Sámmol Sámmol Ánte (Ante Aikio) | publisher = Giellagas Institute University of Oulu | page = 85}}</ref> Compare {{Lang|ru|морж}} ({{Lang|ru-latn|morž}}) in Russian, {{Lang|fi|mursu}} in [[Finnish language|Finnish]], {{Lang|se|morša}} in [[Northern Sami language|Northern Saami]], and {{Lang|fr|morse}} in French. [[Olaus Magnus]], who depicted the walrus in the {{Lang|la|[[Carta Marina]]}} in 1539, first referred to the walrus as the {{Lang|la|ros marus}}, probably a Latinization of {{Lang|la|morž}}, and this was adopted by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in his [[binomial nomenclature]].<ref name=Allen1880>{{cite book|year = 1880| last = Allen | first = Joel Asaph | name-list-style = vanc |title = History of North American pinnipeds, US Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territorie|publisher = Arno Press Inc. (1974 reprint)|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=jFspFxseyC8C}}|isbn = 978-0-405-05702-1}}</ref>

The coincidental similarity between ''morse'' and the Latin word {{Lang|la|morsus}} ('a bite') supposedly contributed to the walrus's reputation as a "terrible monster".<ref name=Allen1880/>

The compound ''Odobenus'' comes from ''{{lang|grc-Latn|odous}}'' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]] for 'teeth') and ''{{lang|grc-Latn|baino}}'' (Greek for 'walk'), based on observations of walruses using their tusks to pull themselves out of the water. The term {{Lang|la|divergens}} in [[Latin]] means 'turning apart', referring to their tusks.{{CN|date=December 2023}}

The [[Inuttitut]] term for the creature is ''aivik'', similar to the [[Inuktitut]] word: ''aiviq'' ᐊᐃᕕᖅ.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inuktut Glossary |url=https://tusaalanga.ca/index.php/glossary |website=Tusaalanga |access-date=3 July 2023}}</ref>