Standard Lemma guide

orca

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.

  • General-American: /ˈoɹkə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɔːkə/
  • rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)kə
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AO1 R K AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blackfish, grampus, killer, killer whale, orc

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: killer whale, killer, grampus, sea wolf, Orcinus orca

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dolphin

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin orca (“tun, cask; whale”), see there for more. Although the origin is obscure, the sometimes-cited association with orcus (“underworld”) is folk-etymology. Doublet of orc.

Across languages

Translations

83 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: moordvis — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Afrikaans: orka — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Ainu: レプンカムイ (repun-kamuy) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Ainu: カムイフㇺベ (kamuy-humbe) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Arabic: حُوت قَاتِل (ḥūt qātil) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Assamese: অৰকা (oroka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Asturian: orca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Asturian: esperlón — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Belarusian: каса́тка (kasátka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Bulgarian: коса́тка (kosátka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Catalan: orca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Chinese Mandarin: 逆戟鯨 /逆戟鲸 (nìjǐjīng) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Chinese Mandarin: 虎鯨 /虎鲸 (hǔjīng) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Chinese Mandarin: 殺人鯨 /杀人鲸 (shārénjīng) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Czech: kosatka — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Danish: spækhugger — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Dutch: orka — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Dutch: zwaardwalvis — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Esperanto: orko — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Esperanto: granda orcino — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Faroese: bóghvítuhvalur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Faroese: mastrarhvalur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Faroese: mastrarfiskur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Faroese: æðuhvalur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Faroese: rovhvalur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Faroese: steyrhvalur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Finnish: miekkavalas — ''Orcinus orca''
  • French: épaulard — ''Orcinus orca''
  • French: orque — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Galician: candorca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Galician: alcandorca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • German: Schwertwal — ''Orcinus orca''
  • German: Mörderwal — ''Orcinus orca''
  • German: Killerwal — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Haida: sg̱aana — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Hungarian: kardszárnyú delfin — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Hungarian: orka — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Hungarian: gyilkos bálna — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Icelandic: háhyrningur — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Ido: orko — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Indonesian: seguni — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Inuktitut: ᐋᕐᓗᒃ (aarlok) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Italian: orca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Japanese: 鯱 (shachi) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Japanese: さかまた (sakamata) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Korean: 범고래 (beomgorae) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Latvian: zobenvalis — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Lushootseed: qal'qaləχwič — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Macedonian: косатка (kosatka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Māori: maki — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Māori: kākahi — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Marathi: हिंसक देवमासा (hiusak devmāsā) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Marathi: ऑर्का (ŏrkā) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Nahuatl: hueyimichtecuani — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Neapolitan: ncroja — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Norwegian: spekkhogger — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: spekkhoggar — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Okinawan: 鯱 (sachi) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Old Norse: vagna — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Persian: ارکا (orkâ) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Polish: orka — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Polish: miecznik — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Portuguese: orca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Romanian: orca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Russian: коса́тка (kosátka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Russian: каса́тка (kasátka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Russian: кит-уби́йца (kit-ubíjca) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Kildin-Sami: воа̄кань (vååkan’) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Scottish Gaelic: cana — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Scottish Gaelic: mada-chuain — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Slovak: kosatka — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Spanish: orca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Spanish: orco — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Spanish: urca — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Swedish: späckhuggare — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Thai: วาฬเพชฌฆาต (waan-pét-chá-kâat) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Tlingit: kéet — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Turkish: katil balina — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Ukrainian: коса́тка (kosátka) — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Vietnamese: cá voi sát thủ — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Vietnamese: cá kình — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Vietnamese: cá hổ kình — ''Orcinus orca''
  • Yámana: shamanaj — ''Orcinus orca''