Orkney

Orkneys (ˈɔːknɪz) or Orkney Islands

pl n

a group of over 70 islands off the N coast of Scotland, separated from the mainland by the Pentland Firth: constitutes an island authority of Scotland; low-lying and treeless; many important prehistoric remains. Administrative centre: Kirkwall. Pop: 19 310 (2003 est). Area: 974 sq km (376 sq miles)Related word: Orcadian

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for orkney

Contemporary Examples of orkney

Over 75 percent of the staff of the Hudson Bay Company was from Orkney alone.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality
Noah Caldwell
September 18, 2014
It was not easy to find a copy of The Pirate in Orkney this year.
The Best of Brit Lit
Peter Stothard
December 13, 2010

Historical Examples of orkney

There has not been such good times in Orkney since I was born, as there is now.
An Orkney Maid
Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
Dissection of a small Cetacean sent to me from Orkney in the month of May 1835.
Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 3
Various
Arms or inlets of the sea, or sounds, in the Shetland and Orkney Isles.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
On the subject of the Orkney servants of the Company all critics were not agreed.
The Great Company
Beckles Willson
But the news from Orkney, Bryce, instead of croaking about a capful of wind?
The Pirate
Sir Walter Scott

Word Origin and History for orkney

Orkney

name of a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland, from Old Norse Orkney-jar "Seal Islands," from orkn "seal," probably imitative of its bark. Related: Orkneyman.