albatross
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
albatross /ˈalbətrɒs/
▶noun (pl. albatrosses)
- 1 a very large seabird with long, narrow wings, found chiefly in the southern oceans. [Genera Diomedea and Phoebetria.]
- 2 a burden or encumbrance (in allusion to Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner).
- 3 Golf a double eagle.
– origin C17: alt. (influenced by L. albus ‘white’) of C16 alcatras, applied to various seabirds, from Sp. and Port. alcatraz, from Arab. al-ġaṭṭās ‘the diver’.
'albatross' also found in these Oxford entries:
