penguin
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: arts
government
hobbies
juggling
lifestyle
military
performing-arts
politics
sports
war
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Celtic *kʷennom
Proto-Brythonic *penn
Welsh pen?
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.?
Proto-Celtic *windos
Proto-Brythonic *gwɨnn
Welsh gwyn?
Proto-Indo-European *peyh₂-der.
Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ-influ.?
Latin pinguisder.?
English penguin
Uncertain. First attested in the 16th century in reference to the auk of the Northern hemisphere; the word was later applied to the superficially similar birds of the Southern hemisphere (as was woggin). Possibly from Welsh pen (“head”) and gwyn (“white”), or from Latin pinguis (“fat”). See citations and the Wikipedia article.
Noun sense 3 originates from the often black-and-white habit worn by nuns, which resemble the bird's colors.
Inflected forms:
form: penguins
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: pinguin
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Any of several flightless sea birds, of the family Spheniscidae within the order Sphenisciformes, found in the Southern Hemisphere, marked by their usual upright stance, walking on short legs, and (generally) their stark black and white plumage.
pos: noun
examples: Here are also birds cal'd Pen-gwins (white-head in Welch) like Pigmies walking upright, their finns or wings hanging very orderly downe like sleeves […]
gloss: An auk (sometimes especially a great auk), a bird of the Northern Hemisphere.
pos: noun
tags: historical
obsolete
examples: 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.
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."
gloss: A nun.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: Jake (John Belushi): What are we doing here?
 Elwood (Dan Aykroyd): You promised you'd visit the penguin the day you got out.
 Jake: Yeah. So, I lied to her.
 Elwood:You can't lie to a nun. We gotta go in and visit the penguin.
gloss: A type of catch where the palm of the hand is facing towards the leg with the arm stretched downward, resembling the flipper of a penguin.
pos: noun
gloss: A member of the air force who does not fly aircraft.
pos: noun
tags: UK
slang
examples: Although it is a permanent R.A.F. station (pre-war, that is), we meander about, even in the Mess, in battle dress and flying boots, sweaters, etc., much to the disgust of some of the more dignified 'penguins' […]
Notwithstanding his elevated status as the wing’s Senior Intelligence Officer, Monty, too, was a “penguin,” equal in that respect to an armament assistant, airframe mechanic, pigeon loftsman or any of the seventy-odd ground trades listed by the Royal Canadian Air Force at the war’s end.
She may have been a “penguin”—an Air Force service member who didn't fly—but it sure beat being at home, as Brady had pointed out.
This was to be my home for three months where ground officer cadets, referred to colloquially as ‘penguins’ were trained.
Derived words: Adelie penguin
African penguin
banded penguin
brush-tailed penguin
Chatham Island penguin
Chatham Islands penguin
chinstrap penguin
crested penguin
embrace the penguin
emperor penguin
erect-crested penguin
fairy penguin
Fiordland penguin
Galapagos penguin
Galápagos penguin
gentoo penguin
Humboldt penguin
jackass penguin
king penguin
little penguin
macaroni penguin
Magellanic penguin
penguinarium
penguin diagram
penguinery
penguinese
penguinesque
penguinish
penguinlike
penguinone
penguinry
penguin suit
penguin trainer
Ridgen's penguin
rockhopper penguin
royal penguin
Snares penguin
Waitaha penguin
white-flippered penguin
yellow-eyed penguin
Translations: