U

auk

auk [awk] ExamplesWord Origin noun

any of several usually black-and-white diving birds of the family Alcidae, of northern seas, having webbed feet and small wings.

Compare great auk, razor-billed auk. Origin of auk 1665–75; Scandinavian; compare Old Norse alka Examples from the Web for auk Historical Examples of auk

Oolichuk continued this process until the first auk was finished.

The Giant of the North

R.M. Ballantyne

Upon the whole, I thought it would not do to depend upon the auk.

The Land of Thor

J. Ross Browne

But there was a deplorable lack of information about the haunts and habits of the auk.

The Land of Thor

J. Ross Browne

Auk, is a term, in compound words of these dialects, denoting wood.

The Indian in his Wigwam

Henry R. Schoolcraft

Of all the Auk tribe, so far as my experience goes, the Puffin flies the most.

British Sea Birds

Charles Dixon

British Dictionary definitions for auk auk noun

any of various diving birds of the family Alcidae of northern oceans having a heavy body, short tail, narrow wings, and a black-and-white plumage: order CharadriiformesSee also great auk, razorbill auk
little auk or dovekie a small short-billed auk, Plautus alle, abundant in Arctic regions

Word Origin for auk C17: from Old Norse ālka; related to Swedish alka, Danish alke Word Origin and History for auk n.

1670s, from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse alka, probably originally imitative of a water-bird cry (cf. Latin olor “swan,” Greek elea “marsh bird”).