penguin
[ peng-gwin, pen- ]
/ ˈpɛŋ gwɪn, ˈpɛn- /
|
noun Ornithology.
any of several flightless, aquatic birds of the family Spheniscidae, of the Southern Hemisphere, having webbed feet and wings reduced to flippers.
Obsolete. great auk.
RELATED CONTENT
Dork, Dweeb, Nerd, And Geek: Which One Are You?These names used to be roughly interchangeable when distinguishing the social outcasts from the in-crowd in school. Yet, those social rejects were destined to rule the world in the form of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, et al. “The geek shall inherit the earth,” indeed. Oh yeah, and billions of dollars. There’s a lot of overlap in meanings. Yet, some of these terms have …
Nearby words
Origin of penguin
1570–80; origin uncertain; perhaps < Welsh pen gwyn literally, white head (referring to the great auk in its winter plumage); later misapplied to the Spheniscidae
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for penguin
British Dictionary definitions for penguin
penguin
/ (ˈpɛŋɡwɪn) /
noun
any flightless marine bird, such as Aptenodytes patagonica (king penguin) and Pygoscelis adeliae (Adélie penguin), of the order Sphenisciformes of cool southern, esp Antarctic, regions: they have wings modified as flippers, webbed feet, and feathers lacking barbsSee also emperor penguin, king penguin
an obsolete name for great auk
Word Origin for penguin
C16: perhaps from Welsh pen gwyn, from pen head + gwyn white
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
Word Origin and History for penguin
penguin
1570s, originally used of the great auk of Newfoundland (now extinct), shift in meaning to the Antarctic bird (which looks something like it, found by Drake in Magellan's Straits in 1578) is from 1580s. Of unknown origin, though often asserted to be from Welsh pen "head" (see pen-) + gwyn "white" (see Gwendolyn), but Barnhart says the proposed formation is not proper Welsh. The great auk had a large white patch between its bill and eye. The French and Breton versions of the word ultimately are from English.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper