penguin

Etymology

Unknown origin^[1]. Possibly from Welsh pen (“head”) and gwyn (“white”), or from Latin pinguis (“fat”). See citations and the Wikipedia page.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛŋɡwɪn/
• (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪŋɡwɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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. (slang) A nun (association through appearance, because of the black and white habit).
3. (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.
4. A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit, Bromelia pinguin.

References

Further reading

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