penguin

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈpɛŋ.ɡwɪn/ See IPA manual

Freq #8167

Meanings

1

noun
A black-and-white seabird that cannot fly, stands upright, and lives mainly in cold southern regions.

A group of penguins waddled across the ice toward the sea.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms penguins

Derived forms penguinariumpenguinerypenguinesepenguinesquepenguinishpenguinlikepenguinonepenguinry

Appears in

Phrases (1)

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emperor penguin
the largest type of penguin, native to Antarctica

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Penguin probably comes from Welsh pen gwyn, meaning “white head.” Sailors and fishermen first gave the name to the great auk around Newfoundland. British sailors may later have mistaken penguins for great auks or simply applied the familiar name to the previously unseen birds.

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…

pen cy pinguis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# penguin

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɛŋ.ɡwɪn/
**Frequency rank:** 8167

## Meanings
1. A black-and-white seabird that cannot fly, stands upright, and lives mainly in cold southern regions.

## Examples
- A group of penguins waddled across the ice toward the sea.

## Derived Forms
- penguinarium
- penguinery
- penguinese
- penguinesque
- penguinish
- penguinlike
- penguinone
- penguinry

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pen
- Root: pinguis

## 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…

## AI Etymology
Penguin is of uncertain origin. 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”). The historical chain includes cy pen and Latin pinguis. Modern senses include a black-and-white seabird that cannot fly, stands upright, and lives mainly in cold southern regions. The wider word family includes derivatives such as penguinarium, penguinery, penguinese, penguinesque, penguinish, and penguinlike.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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