Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A marine mammal; some cetacean, perhaps a grampus or killer, or the narwhal. See Orca.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any of several cetaceans, especialy the grampus (Grampus griseus) of the dolphin family.
  • noun (Mythology) A mythical monster of varying descriptions; an ogre.
  • noun The orca.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably from Italian orco ("man-eating giant"); later revived by J. R. R. Tolkien, partly after Old English orc ("demon").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French orque, Italian orca, and their source, Latin orca ("type of whale").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word orc.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • origin receive charges

    January 23, 2009

  • "For the act, the monkeys do tricks, or dress up in outfits and act out hit movies — The Matrix is very popular, as is anything where the monkeys dress up like little orcs."

    - Kij Johnson, 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss.

    August 21, 2009