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penguin

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penguin¹

  • /ˈpɛŋ.ɡwɪn/ US, UK
  • /ˈpɪŋ.ɡwɪn/ pin pen merger
  • /ˈpeŋ.ɡwən/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈpeŋ.wən/ Australia, nonstandard

Rhymes with -ɛŋɡwɪn, -ɪŋɡwɪn

Where it comes from

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 originates from the often black-and-white habit worn by nuns, which resemble the bird's colors.

noun penguins · pinguin

  1. 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. historical, obsolete 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. slang 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. 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.
  5. UK, slang 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' […]

Penguin²

proper noun

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

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: auk, plume, hideout, hideaway, one-armed, stash, paperback, magellanic, gentoo, viking, putnam, icebird, sphenisciform, spheniscid, seabird, waterbird

Translations

Every language

noun flightless sea bird

Españolpingüino
한국어펭귄 penggwin
日本語ペンギン pengin, 人鳥 jinchō, 企鵝 kiga
中文企鵝 /企鹅 qǐ'é
हिन्दीपेंगुइन peṅguin
Kiswahilingwini, pengwini
Portuguêspinguim
Françaismanchot, pingouin
DeutschPinguin
Italianopinguino
Ελληνικάπιγκουίνος pigkouínos
Românăpinguin
Русскийпингви́н pingvín
Tiếng Việtchim cánh cụt, chim cụt cánh
العربيةبِطْرِيق biṭrīq
עבריתפִּינְגְּוִין pingvín

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Cite this
MLA

"penguin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/penguin. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

penguin. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/penguin

Chicago

"penguin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/penguin.

BibTeX
@misc{penguin_2026,
  title = {penguin},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/penguin},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}