A porpoise is a small, shy marine mammal that looks similar to a dolphin but usually has a shorter nose and more rounded body. It lives in oceans and sometimes rivers, breathing air through a blowhole.
From Old French *porpois*, from Medieval Latin *porcopiscis* “pig-fish,” from *porcus* “pig” and *piscis* “fish.” The name compares its shape to a pig, even though it is a mammal, not a fish.
Like *porcupine*, this name mixes *pig* with another feature—here, *fish*. Humans kept seeing pig shapes everywhere, even in the sea, and language still preserves those quick visual guesses.
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