penguin

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Any of several flightless sea birds, of the family Spheniscidae within the 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.

   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. 2
   noun

   An auk (sometimes especially a great auk), a bird of the Northern Hemisphere.

   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.

3. 3
   noun

   A nun.

   Jake (John Belushi): What are we doing here? Elwood (Dan Aykroyd): You promised you'd visit the penguin the day you got out. Jake: Yeah. So, I lied to her. Elwood:You can't lie to a nun. We gotta go in and visit the penguin.

4. 4
   noun

   A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit, Bromelia pinguin.

   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.

5. 5
   noun

   A member of the air force who does not fly aircraft.

   Although it is a permanent R.A.F. station (pre-war, that is), we meander about, even in the Mess, in battle dress and flying boots, sweaters, etc., much to the disgust of some of the more dignified 'penguins' […]

6. 6
   noun

   short-legged flightless birds of cold southern especially Antarctic regions having webbed feet and wings modified as flippers

7. 7
   noun

   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.

8. 8
   name

   A town in Central Coast Council, northern Tasmania, Australia.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *kʷennom Proto-Brythonic *penn Welsh pen? Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.? Proto-Celtic *windos Proto-Brythonic *gwɨnn Welsh gwyn? Proto-Indo-European *peyh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ-influ.? Latin pinguisder.? English penguin Uncertain. 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 article. Sense 3 or…