Etymologically
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penguin

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɛŋ.ɡwɪn/[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][3] It is often said to be from Welsh pen gwyn (“white head”),[4][3][5][6] referring to the great auk's white head patch,[3][5][6] or to a white headland in Newfoundland where great auks were plentiful.[4][2] Barnhart doubts the Welsh link, since these words would have given penwyn.[2] French pingouin and Breton pengouin were taken from English.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The great auk of Newfoundland, now extinct (1578; 1570s in Etymonline).[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The name passed in the 1580s to the flightless swimming birds of the Southern Hemisphere, which resemble the great auk;[3][2][7] Drake's expedition saw them in the Strait of Magellan in 1578.[3] The great auk itself died out, the last two known birds being killed in 1844,[3] and the old sense is obsolete.[7][6] In the 20th century penguin was also used for a non-flying member of an air force and for a ground trainer resembling an aircraft (1915),[7][1] and, rarely, for a man in evening dress (1967).[7]

Timeline

  • 1578 – the great auk.[7][2]
  • 1588 – the Southern Hemisphere bird.[7][2][5]
  • 1844 – the last great auks killed.[3]
  • 1915 – an aircraft trainer that cannot fly; a non-flying airman.[7]
  • 1935 – Penguin, the publisher's name.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Any of various flightless sea birds of the Southern Hemisphere, with flipper-like wings, webbed feet and black-and-white plumage.
  2. (obsolete) The great auk.
  3. (slang) A member of an air force who does not fly.

Word family

  • Adelie penguin
  • chinstrap penguin
  • emperor penguin
  • jackass penguin
  • king penguin
  • macaroni penguin
  • Magellanic penguin
  • auk
  • great auk

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press