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albatross

 - 3 dictionary results

al⋅ba⋅tross

  [al-buh-traws, -tros]
Use albatross in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of several large, web-footed sea birds of the family Diomedeidae that have the ability to remain aloft for long periods. Compare wandering albatross.
2. a seemingly inescapable moral or emotional burden, as of guilt or responsibility.
3. something burdensome that impedes action or progress.
4. Textiles.
a. a lightweight worsted fabric with a crepe or pebble finish.
b. a plain-weave cotton fabric with a soft nap surface.
Origin:
1675–85; var. of algatross frigate bird < Pg alcatraz pelican, prob. < Ar al-ghaṭṭāṣ a kind of sea eagle, lit., the diver; -b- for -g- perh. by assoc. with L albus white (the bird's color)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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al·ba·tross   (āl'bə-trôs', -trŏs')   
n.   pl. albatross or al·ba·tross·es

  1. Any of several large web-footed birds constituting the family Diomedeidae, chiefly of the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.

    1. A constant, worrisome burden.

    2. An obstacle to success.


[Probably alteration (influenced by Latin albus, white) of alcatras, pelican, from Portuguese or Spanish alcatraz, from Arabic al-ġaṭṭās : al-, the + ġaṭṭās, diver, sea eagle (from ġaṭasa, to plunge, dive; see ġṭs in Semitic roots). Sense 2, after the albatross in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which the mariner killed and had to wear around his neck as a penance.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

albatross 
1672, probably from Sp./Port. alcatraz "pelican," perhaps derived from Arabic al-ghattas "sea eagle;" or from Port. alcatruz "the bucket of a water wheel," from Arabic al-qadus "machine for drawing water, jar" (from Gk. kados "jar"), in reference to the pelican's pouch (cf. Arabic saqqa "pelican," lit. "water carrier"). Either way, the spelling was influenced by L. albus "white." The name extended, through some mistake, by Eng. sailors to a larger sea-bird (order Tubinares). Albatrosses considered good luck by sailors; fig. sense of "burden" (1936) is from Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) about the bad luck of a sailor who shoots and albatross and then is forced to wear its corpse as an indication that he, not the whole ship, offended against the bird. The prison-island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay is named for pelicans that roosted there.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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