Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Petrel |
PetrelNoun1. Relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "petrel" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1832. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Literature | Petrel The stormy petrel. So named, according to tradition, from the Italian Petrello (little Peter), in allusion to St. Peter, who walked on the sea. Our sailors call them "Mother Carey's chickens." They are called stormy because in a gale they surround a ship to catch small animals which rise to the surface of the rough sea; when the gale ceases they are no longer seen. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Warning | Handwriting on the wall, mene mene tekel upharsin, red flag, yellow flag; fog-signal, foghorn; siren; monitor, warning voice, Cassandra, signs of the times, Mother Cary's chickens, stormy petrel, bird of ill omen, gathering clouds, clouds in the horizon, death watch. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Petrel |
| English words defined with "petrel": Cape pigeon ♦ Diving petrel ♦ fulmar petrel ♦ Gadfly petrel, giant fulmar, giant petrel ♦ Hydrobates pelagicus ♦ Ice petrel ♦ Macronectes giganteus, Manx shearwater, Mitty, Mother Carey's chicken, Mother Carey's hen, Mutton bird ♦ northern storm petrel ♦ Oceanites oceanicus ♦ Peterel, Pintado petrel, Procellaria aequinoctialis ♦ Sea fowl, storm petrel, Stormfinch, stormy petrel ♦ Teetee ♦ Whale bird, white-chinned petrel. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "petrel": Mother Carey's Chickens. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "petrel": Mollemoke. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Petrel" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Portuguese (petrel, Thunderbird), Spanish (petrel). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Look hard and you will find a baby giant petrel camouflaged in the rocks.Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume. It depicts (from left to right) the blockade runners Petrel, Memphis, Elizabeth, Ella Warly, Patras, Alliance, Ann, Stettin, Circassian and Tubal Cain. Three of these vessels, Memphis, Stettin and Circassian later served in the U.S. Navy.Credit: NAVY. |
 | Photograph of a contemporary artwork, depicting USS Petrel in action during the Battle.Credit: NAVY. |  | Halftone reproduction of an artwork by E.T. Smith, 1901, depicting a boat party from USS Petrel setting fire to Spanish gunboats near the battle's end. The party was under the direction of Chief Carpenter's Mate Franz A. Itrich, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for this operation. Copied from Deeds of Valor, Vol.II, page 354, published by the Perrien-Keydel Co., Detroit, Michigan, 1907.Credit: NAVY. |
 | Who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898. He was then serving aboard USS Petrel. Halftone image, published in Deeds of Valor, Vol.II, page 353, by the Perrien-Keydel Co., Detroit, Michigan, 1907.Credit: NAVY. |  | Start of the sloops, Petrel leading, Aug. 10, 1900, N.Y.Y.C. cruise.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | U.S.S. Petrel.Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| "Petrel" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.56% of the time. "Petrel" is used about 45 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) | 95.56% | 43 | 52,181 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.22% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (common) | 2.22% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 45 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "petrel": atormy petrel ♦ blue petrel ♦ Diving petrel ♦ fulmar petrel ♦ Gadfly petrel ♦ Giant petrel ♦ Ice petrel ♦ Manx petrel ♦ northern storm petrel ♦ pintado petrel ♦ storm petrel ♦ stormy petrel. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "petrel": storm-finch-petrel. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| 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 |
petrel | 20 |
boat petrel sail | 3 |
petrel peter | 3 |
stormy petrel | 2 |
petrel storm wilsons | 2 |
petrel resource | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "petrel"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | zgalem (storm petrel, storm-finch-petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | طائر النوء. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | смутител (disturber, interrupter, stormy petrel, troublemaker, violator), конфликтна личност, буревестник (fulmar, mallemuck, pintado). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | buřòák. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | Wilsons stormsvale (Wilson's petrel), stor stormsvale (leach's fork-tailed petrel, leach's petrel), madeirastormsvale (freira, Madeira petrel, Madeiran petrel), lille stormsvale (storm petrel), Kermadec skraape (Kermadec petrel, Schlegel's Fulmar), karaibisk skraape (black-capped petrel, capped petrel), hvidhaget skråpe (white-chinned petrel), goulds skraape (white-throated petrel), fregatstormsvale (frigate petrel), Bulwers skraape (Bulwer's petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | zwartkapstormvogeltje (black-capped petrel, capped petrel), witvleugelstormvogel (white-throated petrel), Wilson's stormvogeltje (Wilson's petrel), westafrikaans vaal stormvogeltje (freira, Madeira petrel, Madeiran petrel), vaal stormvogeltje (leach's fork-tailed petrel, leach's petrel), stormvogeltje (storm petrel), stinker (giant petrel), reuzenstormvogel (giant petrel), madeira stormvogeltje (freira, Madeira petrel, Madeiran petrel), fregatstormvogeltje (frigate petrel), Bulwer-stormvogel (Bulwer's petrel), Bulwers stormvogel (Bulwer's petrel), bont stormvogeltje (frigate petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | مرغ طوفان(ج.ش.), مرغ باران . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | pétrel. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Sturmvogel. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | θαλασσοβάτησ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | יסעורון. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | viharmadár (albatross). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | procellaria dalla banda pettorale (soft plumaged petrel), procellaria a coda forcuta (leach's fork-tailed petrel, leach's petrel), uccello delle tempeste faccia bianca (white faced storm petrel), uccello delle tempeste di Wilson (Wilson's petrel, Wilson's storm petrel), uccello delle tempeste di Madera (freira, Madeira petrel, Madeiran petrel), uccello delle tempeste di Bulwer (Bulwer's petrel), uccello delle tempeste del collare (white-throated petrel), uccello delle tempeste dal cappuccio (black-capped petrel, capped petrel), uccello delle tempeste coda forcuta (leach's fork-tailed petrel, leach's petrel), uccello delle tempeste (frigate petrel, leach's petrel, storm petrel), ossifraga (giant petrel), grande procellaria (giant petrel), fulmaro gigante (southern giant petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 海燕 (stormy petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | うみつばめ (stormy petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | kirree varrey (storm petrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | etrelpay petrel (Thunderbird), impetrante. (various references) буревестник (mallemuck, storm petrel, storm-finch-petrel, stormy petrel). (various references) fulmair (a species of petrel). (various references) predznak (auspice, foretoken, harbinger, omen, portent, presage, prognostic, prognostication, sign), mala burnica (storm petrel, storm-finch-petrel). (various references) petrel. (various references) stormfågel (fulmar). (various references) tatsızlık çıkaran tip, ortalığı karıştıran tip, fırtına kuşu (mallemuck, storm petrel). (various references) буревісник (pintado, puffin, witch). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Bulweria bulwerii, Bulweria philippi, Hydrobates pelagicus, Macronectes giganteus, Oceanites oceanicus, Oceanodroma castro, Oceanodroma leucorhoa, Oceanodroma leucorrhoa, Pelagodroma marina, Pterodroma haasitata, Pterodroma leucoptera, Pterodroma madeira, Pterodroma neglecta, RM:pitrel da tempesta, RM:rivarel d'undas. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "petrel": petrels. (additional references) | |
| |
"Petrel" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ketrel, parrel, partel, patrem, Payhel, Pearnel, peltre, Perel, perpel, perte, Pertec, pertrel, pestrel, Petel, petra, petraea, petral, Petrea, petree, Petrelle, Petric, Petrik, Petrin, petrit, Petroc, Petru, Pettrac, Petzet, pitre, pittel, pretell. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "petrel" (pronounced 'Pe"trel'): Castrel, Chaptrel, Costrel, Cottrel, Coystrel, Daintrel, kestrel, Peytrel, Pointrel, Poitrel. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: pelter. | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-l-p-r-t" | |
-1 letter: leper, peter, relet, repel. | |
-2 letters: leer, leet, lept, peel, peer, pele, pelt, pert, pree, reel, rete, teel, tele, tree. | |
-3 letters: eel, ere, lee, let, pee, per, pet, ree, rep, ret, tee, tel. | |
-4 letters: el, er, et, pe, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-l-p-r-t" | |
+1 letter: pelters, perlite, petrale, petrels, peytrel, pleater, prelate, prelect, pretzel, replate, replete, reptile, respelt, spelter, telpher. | |
+2 letters: drupelet, epistler, expertly, paltered, palterer, pearlite, peltered, peltries, perlites, petrales, petronel, peytrels, pleaters, praelect, preelect, prelates, prelects, pretzels, pterylae, replated, replates, reptiles, spelters, teleport, telphers. | |
+3 letters: completer, drupelets, epistlers, epistoler, eruptible, expletory, exploiter, interlope, interpled, metroplex, overleapt, overslept, palestrae, palterers, pearliest, pearlites, peltering, percolate, perfectly, peristyle, perpetual, petroleum, petronels, philtered, pistoleer, plastered, plasterer, polyester, poulterer, praelects, prebattle, preelects, prelature, prelected, preselect, presently, pretravel, prevalent, princelet, proselyte, repellant, repellent, replanted, replaster, repletion, replicate, replotted, reputable, reputedly, saltpeter, sepulture, telegraph, teleports, telphered, terpineol, triplexes. | |
| 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. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 65 74 72 65 6C |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. . - .-. . .-.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "petrel" |
