orc

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in fantasy literature and games, a member of a race of aggressive, often monstrous humanoid creatures

   The novel's orc served a dark lord and raided the mountain villages.

2. 2
   noun

   archaic: a large ferocious sea creature, especially a killer whale

   Older natural histories sometimes called the killer whale an orc.

Two histories meet in this spelling. The archaic sea animal came through Middle French orque from Latin orca, whale, and is a doublet of orca. The fantasy monster probably comes through Italian orco and Old English orc, associated with Latin Orcus, the underworld; J. R. R. Tolkien revived and popularized that sense.

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