auk
UK /ɔːk/ · US /ɔk/ noun
Forms auks awk alk
Synonyms
Etymology
From Icelandic álka, from Old Norse alka (“auk”), from Proto-Germanic *alkǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (“a kind of bird”). Cognate with Swedish alka (“auk”), Norwegian and Danish alke (“auk”), Swedish dialectal alla (“long-tailed duck”) (Clangula hyemalis, syn. Fuligula glacialis), Latin olor (“swan”), Ancient Greek ἐλέα (eléa, “marsh-bird”), Welsh alarch (“swan”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A name given to various species of arctic sea birds of the family Alcidæ. The great auk, now extinct, is Alca (or Plautus) impennis. The razor-billed auk is A. torda. See Puffin, Guillemot, and Murre.
Etymology [Prov. E. alk; akin to Dan. alke, Icel. & Sw. alka.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “auk”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details