colombre

colombre (mythical sea creature)

noun koh-LOHM-breh Less Common

Usage Note

Colombre is the name of a terrifying mythical sea creature in Dino Buzzati's celebrated 1966 short story of the same name — a vast fish that pursues a sailor his entire life. Outside literary reference the word is essentially unknown and does not belong to standard Italian vocabulary.

Examples

"Il colombre seguiva la nave da anni."

Natural Translation

The colombre had been following the ship for years.

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