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penguin

noun
PENG-gwin/ˈpɛŋɡwɪn/

Pluralpenguins

6 meanings of penguin

Practice

  1. 1
    southern sea birdnouncountable
    A flightless sea bird that swims well, stands upright, and has black and white feathers.

    Like a small bird in a black and white suit that swims instead of flying.

    The penguin slid across the ice on its belly.

    We watched a penguin dive into the freezing water.

    Note
  2. 2
    nunnounslangcountable
    A woman who has given her life to religion and lives as a nun.

    The penguins at my old Catholic school made us pray before every class.

    Grandpa jokes that my aunt became a penguin when she joined the sisters at the convent.

    Similarnun, sister

    Note
  3. 3
    nounobsoletehistorical
    A northern sea bird of the auk family, especially the great auk, now extinct.
    This last species of penguin, or auk, seems to be the same with the alca cirrhata of Dr. Pallis, Spicileg. Zool. Fasc. v. p. 7. tab. i. & v. fig. 1–3. F.
    1772, “Account of the Settlement of the Malouines”, in The Gentleman's and London MagazineHere, penguin means a northern sea bird, also called an auk.
    More than a hundred years ago, for example, was seen the last of the great wingless penguins or auks, which early writers quaintly called " wobble-birds."
    1885, Journal of the American Geographical Society of New YorkHere, penguins means great auks, large northern sea birds that could not fly.
    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    nounslangUK
    An air force member who works on the ground and does not fly planes.
  2. 5
    noun
    A way of catching with your arm straight down by your side and your hand twisted so the palm faces up.
  3. 6
    nounrare
    A prickly tropical plant with thick, egg-shaped fruit.
    These productive patches, and the houses, were each surrounded by a fence, made of a prickly shrub, called the Pinguin, which propagates itself with great rapidity.
    1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons

Practice

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Origin

No one knows for sure where this word comes from. The earliest written examples are from the 1500s. It may come from two Welsh words, pen ("head") and gwyn ("white"). Or it may come from the Latin word pinguis ("fat").