albatross

albatross

See also: Albatross

English

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Probably from Spanish or Portuguese alcatraz (“pelican, gannet, albatross”), probably derived from Arabic الْغَطَّاس‎ (al-ḡaṭṭās, “the diver”) (compare Alcatraz); or from Portuguese alcatruz (“water wheel bucket”), from Arabic الْقَادُوس‎ (al-qādūs), from Ancient Greek κάδος (kádos, “pail, jar”), in reference to the pouch of a pelican.[1] In either case, altered under the influence of Latin albus (“white”). Not derived from modern Arabic قَطْرَس‎ (qaṭras, “albatross”), which is perhaps borrowed from Spanish.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bəˌtɹɒs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bəˌtɹɔs/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bəˌtɹɑs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

An albatross (bird).

Noun

albatross (plural albatross or albatrosses)

1. Any of various large seabirds of the family Diomedeidae ranging widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.
2. Any of various African and Asian pierid butterflies of the genus Appias. Some species of this genus are also known as puffins.
3. (golf) A double eagle, or three under par on any one hole, except a par 3 hole.

Synonyms

• gooney bird
• gooney
• goonie

Coordinate terms

(golf):

• buzzard
• bogey
• par
• birdie
• eagle
• condor
• ostrich

Derived terms

• albatross round one's neck
• Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross
• black-browed albatross
• great albatross
• Laysan albatross
• wandering albatross

 

Translations

seabird

Arabic: قَطْرَس‎ (ar) m (qaṭras) Armenian: ալբատրոս (hy) (albatros) Bulgarian: албатрос (bg) (albatros) Catalan: albatros (ca) m Cebuano: albatros Chinese: Mandarin: 信天翁 (zh) (xìntiānwēng) Chukchi: ӄаӄытъэӄ (qaqytʺėq), ӄаӄытъэӄыт pl (qaqytʺėqyt) Crimean Tatar: furtuna quşu Czech: albatros (cs) m Danish: albatros c Dutch: albatros (nl) m Esperanto: albatroso Estonian: albatross (et) Faroese: súlukongur m Finnish: albatrossi (fi) French: albatros (fr) m Galician: albatros m German: Albatros (de) m Greek: άλμπατρος (el) n (álmpatros) Hindi: महासामुद्र (mahāsāmudra) Hungarian: albatrosz (hu) Icelandic: súlukóngur m, stormfugl (is) m Indonesian: albatros (id) Irish: albatras m Italian: albatro (it) m, albatros (it) m Japanese: 信天翁 (ja) (あほうどり, ahōdori), アホウドリ (ja) (ahōdori) Korean: 신천옹(信天翁) (ko) (sincheonong), 알바트로스 (albateuroseu) Latin: diomedea f Malay: albatros Maltese: albatros m, albatrosa f Maori: toroa Navajo: tónteel tsídiitsoh Norwegian: Bokmål: albatross (no) m Nynorsk: albatross (no) m Polish: albatros (pl) m Portuguese: albatroz (pt) Romanian: albatros (ro) m Russian: альбатро́с (ru) m (alʹbatrós) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: албатрос m, бурница f Roman: albatros (sh) m, burnica (sh) f Slovene: albatros (sl) m Spanish: albatros (es) m Swedish: albatross (sv) c Tagalog: albatros Turkish: albatros (tr) Yup'ik: yaarcaq

three under par

Catalan: albatros (ca) m Danish: albatros c Dutch: albatros (nl) m Finnish: albatrossi (fi) German: Albatros (de) m Greek: άλμπατρος (el) n (álmpatros) Japanese: アルバトロス (ja) (arubatorosu) Swedish: albatross (sv) c

Etymology 2

See albatross around one’s neck.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bəˌtɹɒs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bəˌtɹɔs/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bəˌtɹɑs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

albatross (plural albatrosses)

1. (figurative) A long-term impediment, burden, or curse.
   • 2006 March 13, Richard Lugar, speech to the Brookings Institution,

     […] energy is the albatross of U.S. national security.

Synonyms

• albatross around one's neck

Translations

long-term impediment

Bulgarian: затруднение (bg) (zatrudnenie) Finnish: heikkous (fi), rasite (fi) Irish: bró mhuilinn f

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “albatross”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

albatross m (definite singular albatrossen, indefinite plural albatrosser, definite plural albatrossene)

1. albatross

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

albatross m (definite singular albatrossen, indefinite plural albatrossar, definite plural albatrossane)

1. albatross

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Swedish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalbatrɔs/, /ˈalbatˌrɔs/, /ˌalbatˈrɔs/

Noun

albatross c (definite plural albatrossen, indefinite plural albatrosser, definite plural albatrosserna)

1. albatross
2. (golf) an albatross or double eagle (a score of three strokes under par for a hole)