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albatross.

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.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈæl.bəˌtɹɒs/Received-Pronunciation/ˈæl.bəˌtɹɔs/General-American/ˈæl.bəˌtɹɑs/cot-caught-merger
  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. A double eagle, or three under par on any one hole, except a par 3 hole.

  4. A long-term impediment, burden, or curse.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

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. 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. For sense development of "burden", see albatross around one’s neck.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.