cetel (set)

[L. cœtus, an a embly, gathering: see coitus.] A company; a number together: said of badgers. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 80. cete2+ (set), n. [L. cet us, see cet us, and cf. Cete3.] A whale. Cete3 (se'tē), n. pl. [NL., particularly a whale: see cet us, and cf. cete, Cetacea.] 1. An order of monodelphian Mam mali a, superorder Educabilia, containing the true cetaceans, as whales, dolphins, etc. It is naturally divisible into three suborders: the Zeuglo dontes, mostly extinct; the Denticete, or toothed cetaceans, as the sperm whales, dolphins, and porpoises; and the Mysticete, or whalebone whales. The genera and species are very numerous, and are arranged under 10 families. The Cete are characterized by having the pelvis and hind limbs more or le completely atrophied; a fish-like body, specialized for aquatic progre ion, and ending in a horizontal tail or flukes; short fore limbs like fins or flippers, one at least of the digits having more than 3 phalanges; the neck usually short; and a greater or le number of the cervical vertebræ ankylosed together. The dentition is monophyodont, and the teeth are conic or compre ed when present. Also Ceta, Cetacea. 2. In some systems of zoölogical cla ification, a suborder of Cetomorpha. Also Ceta. cetene (se'ten), n. [For cetylene, See Cetiosaurus .