different between penguin vs petrel

English

Alternative forms

• pinguin (obsolete)

Etymology

Unknown; 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 page.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p???w?n/
• (pin–pen merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /?p???w?n/

Noun

penguin (plural penguins)

1. Any of several flightless sea birds, of 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. [from 16th c.]
   • 1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels, I:

     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 […]

2. (obsolete or historical) An auk (sometimes especially a great auk), a bird of the Northern Hemisphere.
   • 1772 March, Account of the Settlement of the Malouines, in The Gentleman's and London Magazine, page 166:

     *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.

   • 1885, Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York:

     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."

3. (slang) A nun (association through appearance, because of the often black-and-white habit).
4. (juggling) 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.
5. A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit, Bromelia pinguin.
   • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 4, p. 82,^[1]

     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.

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

References

Further reading

• Penguin in the 1921 edition of Collier's Encyclopedia.

English

Etymology

Perhaps a diminutive of Peter, with reference to St. Peter's walking on the water (Matthew 14:29).

Pronunciation

• enPR: p?t'r?l, IPA^(key): /?p?t??l/
• Homophone: petrol

Noun

petrel (plural petrels)

1. Any of various species of black, grey, or white seabirds in the order Procellariiformes.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• petrel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Procellariiformes on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Procellariiformes on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• pelter

Romanian

Etymology

From French pétrel.

Noun

petrel m (plural petrei)

1. petrel

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From English petrel or French pétrel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pe?t?el/, [pe?t??el]

Noun

petrel m (plural petreles)

1. petrel

Descendants

• ? Catalan: petrell