albatross

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

An alteration of Portuguese word alcatraz (“gannet”), under influence of the Latin word albus (“white”); alcatraz comes from Arabic القطرس (al-qaṭrās', “sea eagle”).

• The "long-term impediment" sense is derived from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, from the seabird.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈæl.bəˌtrɒs/
• (US) IPA: /ˈæl.bəˌtrɔs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

albatross (plural albatross or albatrosses)

1. Any of various large seabirds of the family Diomedeidae ranging widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.
2. (golf) A double eagle, or three under par on any one hole.
3. (idiomatic) A long-term impediment, burden, or curse.
   • 2006 March 13, Richard Lugar, speech to the Brookings Institution,

     […] energy is the albatross of U.S. national security.

Synonyms

• (seabird): gooney bird, gooney, goonie

Translations

seabird

• Arabic: القَطْرَس (ar) (al-qáṭras) m
• Armenian: ալբատրոս (hy) (albatros)
• Bulgarian: албатрос (bg) (albatros)
• Catalan: albatros (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 信天翁 (cmn) (xìntiānwēng)

• Czech: albatros (cs) m
• Danish: albatros (da) c
• Dutch: albatros (nl) m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: albatross (et)
• Faroese: súlukongur (fo) m
• Finnish: albatrossi (fi)
• French: albatros (fr) m
• German: Albatros (de) m
• Greek: άλμπατρος (el) (álmpatros) n
• Hindi: महासामुद्र (hi) (mahāsāmudra)
• Hungarian: albatrosz (hu)

• Icelandic: súlukóngur (is) m
• Irish: albatras (ga) m
• Italian: albatro (it) m, albatros (it) m
• Japanese: 信天翁 (ja) (あほうどり, ahōdori), アホウドリ (ja) (ahōdori)
• Korean: 신천옹 (ko) (sincheon-ong) (信天翁 (ko))
• Malay: albatros (ms)
• Maltese: albatros (mt) m, albatrosa (mt) f
• Navajo: tónteel tsídiitsoh
• Polish: albatros (pl) m
• Portuguese: albatroz (pt)
• Romanian: albatros (ro) m
• Russian: альбатрос (ru) (al’batrós) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: албатрос (sh) m, бурница (sh) f

  Roman: albatros (sh) m, burnica (sh) f

• Spanish: albatros (es) m
• Swedish: albatross (sv)
• Turkish: albatros (tr)

three under par

• Dutch: albatros (nl) m
• Finnish: albatrossi (fi)

• German: Albatros (de) m
• Greek: άλμπατρος (el) (álmpatros) n

long-term impediment

• Bulgarian: затруднение (bg) (zatrudnenie)

• Finnish: heikkous (fi), rasite (fi)