Albatross

Definitions: Albatross

Albatross

Noun

1. (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps; "she was an albatross around his neck".

2. Large web-footed birds of the southern hemisphere having long narrow wings; noted for powerful gliding flight.

Date "albatross" was first used: 1672. (references)

Specialty Definitions: Albatross

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Albatross The largest of webfooted birds, called by sailors the Cape Sheep, from its frequenting the Cape of Good Hope. It gorges itself, and then sits motionless upon the waves. It is said to sleep in the air, because its flight is a gliding without any apparent motion of its long wings. Sailors say it is fatal to shoot an albatross. Coleridge's Ancient Mariner is founded on this superstition. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Albatross

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Albatross

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Procellariiformes

Family: Diomedeidae

Genera: Diomedea
Thallasarche
Phoebastria
Phoebetria

Species

Phoebastria albatrus
Phoebastria nigripes
Phoebastria irrorata
Phoebastria immutabilis
Diomedea epomophora
Diomedea exulans
Diomedea amsterdamensis
Thallasarche chlororhynchos
Thallasarche melanophris
Thallasarche chrysostoma
Thallasarche bulleri
Thallasarche cauta
Phoebetria fusca
Phoebetria palpebrata

The albatrosses (from Portuguese Alcatraz, a pelican) are seabirds in the family Diomedeidae, which is closely allied to the petrels.

This is a group of large to very large birds with very long narrow wings. The beak is large, strong and sharp-edged, the upper mandible terminating in a large hook. The feet have no hind toe, and the three anterior toes are completely webbed.

Albatrosses travel huge distances using a technique used by many long-winged seabirds called dynamic soaring. This enables them to minimise the effort needed by gliding across wave fronts.

Their principal food is cephalopods.

Current thinking divides the albatrosses into four genera:

North Pacific albatrosses (Phoebastria)
- Laysan Albatross P. immutabilis
- Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes
- Galapagos Albatross P. irrorata
- Short-tailed Albatross P. albatrus
Great albatrosses (Diomedea)
- Royal Albatross D. epomophora
- Wandering Albatross D. exulans
- Amsterdam Albatross D. amsterdamensis
Mollymawks (Thalassarche)
- Yellow-nosed Albatross T. chlororhynchos
- Buller's Albatross T. bulleri
- Shy Albatross T. cauta
- Grey-headed Albatross T. chrysostoma
- Black-browed Albatross T. melanophris
Sooty albatrosses (Phoebetria)
- Dark-mantled Sooty Albatross P. fusca
- Light-mantled Sooty Albatross P. palpebrata.

The taxonomy of the albatross group is very fluid at the present time. The American Ornithological Union places seabirds, birds of prey and many others in a greatly enlarged order Ciconiiformes, whereas in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, the more traditional Procellariiformes is retained.

Both the British Ornithological Union and the South African authorities split the albatrosses into four genera as indicated in the table. (Ibis (2002) 144 p707-710.)

The name Diomedea, assigned to the albatrosses by Linnaeus references the mythical metamorphosis of the companions of the Greek warrior Diomedes into birds.

Black-browed Albatross.

References

ITIS (Follows the AOU classification.)
Roberts' VII Bird Species List (South Africa.)

HANZAB complete species list (Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.)

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Albatross."

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Synonyms: Albatross

Synonyms: millstone (n), mollymawk (n). (additional references)

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Crosswords: Albatross

English words defined with "albatross": black-footed albatross ♦ Diomedea, Diomedea exulans, Diomedea nigripes ♦ gooney, gooney bird, goonie, goony ♦ man-of-war bird, millstone ♦ Sooty albatross ♦ Wandering albatross. (references)

Specialty definitions using "albatross": Ancient Mariner ♦ MARINER. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Albatross" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses.

Swedish (albatross).

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Modern Usage: Albatross

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	The Albatross wasn't just a ship or a school, it was something that we made, something that's inside of us. That's who you are Skipper, what you gave us you carried us, now let us carry this together. (White Squall; writing credit: Charles Gieg Jr.; Felix Sutton)
Lyrics	The albatross and the whales ("Cool Change"; performing artist: Little River Band)
Movie/TV Titles	The Man and the Albatross (1969) Die Letzten drei der Albatross (1965) Albatross Water Handling (1965) The Albatross (1995) Albatross (1985)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Albatross

Domain	Title
Books	Albert the Albatross (reference) Blood of the Albatross (reference) Children of the Albatross (reference) Eye of the Albatross (reference) The Albatross Lives (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Star Trek - The Animated Series, Vol. 9: Bem/ Albatross (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Albatross

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Photo Album: Albatross

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Albatross.Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).		White terns or fairy terns, Gygis alba, in flight. Laysan albatross chicks on ground.Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).
	Tanner Sounding Machine Designed by Zera Luther Tanner, first captain of the ALBATROSS I.Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		Camp on eastern Lisianski Island Island was station for World Longitude Campaign Nesting place for albatross and other marine bird species Astro party of E. J. Brown.Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.
	Deploying a current meter from the stern of the ALBATROSS IV for warm core study.Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.		Hammerhead shark passing bow of ALBATROSS IV while ship underway Apparently a hammerhead migration as ship saw hundreds of hammerheads swimming to northeast during the day.Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.
	Preparing current meters to secure to tethered mooring during Gulf Stream eddy studies from the NOAA Ship ALBATROSS IV.Credit: Fisheries.		Stern of the ALBATROSS IV during Gulf Stream eddy studies.Credit: Fisheries.
	The ward room. In: "Report on the Construction and Outfit of the United States Fish Commission Steamer ALBATROSS", by Lieutenant-Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part XI. Report of the Commissioner for 1883. Plate XI, p. 111.Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.		Dredging engine. In: "Report on the Construction and Outfit of the United States Fish Commission Steamer ALBATROSS", by Lieutenant-Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part XI. Report of the Commissioner for 1883. Plate XXIII, p. 111.Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Albatross

"Albatross" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 89.80% of the time. "Albatross" is used about 49 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	89.8%	44	51,500
Noun (proper)	10.2%	5	157,705
Total	100.00%	49	N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expressions: Albatross

Expressions using "albatross": sooty albatross ♦ wandering albatross. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "albatross": albatross-corpse, albatross-eagle, albatross-like.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Albatross

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
albatross	329	albatross cavtat hotel	5
grumman albatross	41	albatross baudelaire	4
albatross bird	23	albatross beach hotel sharm	4
albatross hotel	20	albatross l	4
l 39 albatross	18	albatross botel	4
albatross picture	14	royal park albatross club	4
beach albatross	12	albatross mp3	4
wandering albatross	12	aircraft albatross	4
albatross australia radio	12	albatross photo	4
gossamer albatross	10	albatross boat	3
albatross golf	10	albatross bird picture	3
albatross fleetwood mac	9	albatross poem	3
albatross beach sharm	8	airplane albatross	3
albatross short tailed	7	albatross around neck	3
albatross l39	7	albatross d.va	3
albatross motel	6	albatross siemens	3
albatross grumman sale	6	albatross dv	3
albatross midi	6	albatross hotel vienna	3
4 albatross w	6	albatross diii	3
black footed albatross	5	albatross gif	3
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Albatross

Language		Translations for "albatross"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaan		albatros. (various references)

Arabic		‏القطرس طائر بحري كبير. (various references)

Bulgarian		албатрос. (various references)

Czech		albatros. (various references)

Danish		vandrealbatros (wandering albatross), sortbrynet albatros (black-browed albatross), gulnaebbet albatros (yellow-nosed albatross), graahovedet albatros (grey-headed albatross). (various references)

Dutch		albatros. (various references)

Esperanto		albatroso. (various references)

Farsi		یکجورمرغابی بزرگ دریایی . (various references)

French		albatros. (various references)

German		albatros. (various references)

Greek		αλμπατρόσ, θαλάσινο πτηνόν. (various references)

Hungarian		albatrosz, viharmadár (petrel). (various references)

Icelandic		albatrosi. (various references)

Indonesian		elang laut. (various references)

Irish		albatras. (various references)

Italian		albatro (fruit of the arbutus). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		阿房鳥 , アルト歌手 (albino, Albireo, album, alcohol-related harassment, alpaca, alpha, alphabet, Alphard, alpine, alpinism, alpinist, alto, part-time job), 信天翁 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		し�"て�"おう, あほうどり, アルバトロス . (various references)

Manx		rouailtagh ny faarkaghyn. (various references)

Pig Latin		albatrossay

Portuguese		albatroz (atormy petrel, mallet). (various references)

Romanian		albatros. (various references)

Russian		альбатрос (mallemuck). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		albatros. (various references)

Spanish		albatros (seabird). (various references)

Swedish		albatross. (various references)

Turkish		albatros. (various references)

Ukranian		альбатрос. (various references)

Vietnamese		chim hải âu lớn. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Albatross

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	Diomedea albatrus, Diomedea bulleri, Diomedea chlororhynchos, Diomedea chrysostoma, Diomedea epomophora, Diomedea exulans, Diomedea melanophris, Diomedea nigripes. (various references)
Arabic	500-Modern	al-ghattas. (various references)
Spanish	900-Modern	alcatraz. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Albatross

Derivations
	Words beginning with "albatross": albatrosses. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Albatross" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Albaro, albatros, albatrose, Albertosi, albitross. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Albatross"

Words rhyming with "albatross" (pronounced 'Al"ba*tross'): Matross, Montross. (additional references)

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Anagrams: Albatross

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-b-l-o-r-s-s-t"
	-1 letter: alastors, borstals.
	-2 letters: abators, alastor, astrals, basalts, borstal, oblasts, rabatos, tarsals.
	-3 letters: abator, aboral, aborts, altars, aortal, aortas, assort, astral, balsas, basalt, blasts, bloats, boarts, boasts, borals, labors, oblast, rabato, rabats, ratals, roasts, sabots, sabras, tablas, tabors, talars, tarsal, tolars.
	-4 letters: abort, albas, altar, altos, aorta, artal, atlas, baals, balas, balsa, basal, basso, basts.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-b-l-o-r-s-s-t"
	+1 letter: astrolabes.
	+2 letters: albatrosses, sailboaters.
	+3 letters: transposable.
	+4 letters: elaborateness, plasterboards, secobarbitals.
	+5 letters: blepharoplasts, constabularies, malabsorptions, neuroblastomas.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.