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penguin

[ peng-gwin, pen- ]

noun

, Ornithology.
  1. any of several flightless, aquatic birds of the family Spheniscidae, of the Southern Hemisphere, having webbed feet and wings reduced to flippers.
  2. Obsolete. great auk.


penguin

/ ˈpɛŋɡwɪn /

noun

  1. any flightless marine bird, such as Aptenodytes patagonica (king penguin) and Pygoscelis adeliae ( Adélie penguin ), of the order Sphenisciformes of cool southern, esp Antarctic, regions: they have wings modified as flippers, webbed feet, and feathers lacking barbs See also emperor penguin king penguin
  2. an obsolete name for great auk


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Word History and Origins

Origin of penguin1

1570–80; origin uncertain; perhaps < Welsh pen gwyn literally, white head (referring to the great auk in its winter plumage); later misapplied to the Spheniscidae

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Word History and Origins

Origin of penguin1

C16: perhaps from Welsh pen gwyn, from pen head + gwyn white

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Example Sentences

Take a volunteer vacation to help rear baby penguins hatched from abandoned eggs that have been brought to the center.

From Ozy

A case in point would be the Gentoo penguins and Chinstrap penguins.

The Gentoo penguins will be doing great, and the Adèlies will largely be gone.

Zitterbart’s team recently discovered which conditions cause penguins to huddle, and they are investigating the possibility that the penguins’ mathematical behavior may reveal secrets about colony health over time.

“Instead of weighing each individual penguin, it’s as if we’re weighing 25,000 penguins at the same time,” he said.

Reprinted by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company.

Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.

This species of penguin was showered with positive coverage throughout the 20th century by a supposedly vigilant press.

The adjudication of the Daily Beast office was clear and emphatic: penguin, penguin, penguin.

The boy feels rejected and confused, and then hits on a Christmas morning solution, delivering a penguin mate for his penguin.

On the northern faces of the ridges, fronting the ice-foot, large, yellowish patches mark the sites of penguin rookeries.

The first penguin came waddling up the ice-foot against a seventy-mile wind late on the afternoon of October 12.

On the 21st an Emperor penguin landed on the harbour ice, and, early in November, two more were captured.

An Adelie penguin, skiing on its breast from the north, surprised us suddenly by a loud croak at the rear of the sledge.

A bay opened to the east of Penguin Point, from which the coast trended to the south-east.

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