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pen·guin

(pĕnggwĭn, pĕn-)

1. Any of various stout, flightless aquatic birds of the family Spheniscidae, of the Southern Hemisphere, having flipperlike wings and webbed feet adapted for swimming and diving, short scalelike feathers, and white underparts with a dark back.

2. Obsolete The great auk.

[Possibly from Welsh pen gwyn, White Head (name of an island in Newfoundland), great auk : pen, chief, head (from Middle Welsh penn; see pendragon in the Appendix of Indo-European roots) + gwynn, white; see weid- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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