Standard Lemma guide

auk

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɔːk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ɔk/
  • cot-caught-merger: /ɑk/
  • rhymes with -ɔːk
  • rhymes with -ɑːk
  • homophone: awk
  • homophone: orc (non-rhotic)

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several species of Arctic sea birds of the family Alcidae.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alcid

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

black-and-white short-necked web-footed diving bird of northern seas

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: seabird, sea bird, seafowl

Narrower terms: auklet, razorbill, razor-billed auk, Alca torda, little auk, dovekie, Plautus alle, great auk, Pinguinus impennis, guillemot

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: pingüín — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Bulgarian: гагарка (gagarka) — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Catalan: àlcid — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 海雀科 (hǎiquèkē) — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Czech: alka — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Dutch: alk — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Esperanto: aŭko — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Faroese: svartfuglur — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Finnish: ruokki — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • French: pingouin — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Galician: arao romeiro — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • German: Alk — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Hindi: अलका (alkā) — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Hungarian: alka — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Irish: falcóg — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Italian: alca — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Japanese: 海雀 (umisuzume) — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Manx: alk — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Marathi: अलका (alkā) — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Old Norse: alka — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Polish: alka — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Portuguese: torda — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Romanian: alcă — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Romanian: pinguin nordic — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Russian: гага́рка (gagárka) — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Slovak: alka — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Spanish: alca — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Swedish: alka — seabird of the family Alcidae
  • Welsh: carfil — seabird of the family Alcidae