Main Entry: du·gong

Pronunciation: \ˈdü-ˌgäŋ, -ˌgȯŋ\

Function: noun

Etymology: New Latin, genus name, probably from dugung in Cebuano or a related Austronesian language of the central Philippines

Date: 1800

: a sirenian mammal (Dugong dugon of the family Dugongidae) of a monotypic genus that has a bilobed tail and in the male upper incisors altered into short tusks and that inhabits warm coastal waters chiefly of southern Asia, Australia, and northeastern Africa

[dugong illustration]