/
ˈalbətrɒs/
n.
(pl. albatrosses)
- a very large seabird with long, narrow wings, found chiefly in the southern oceans.
[Genera Diomedea and Phoebetria.]
- a burden or encumbrance (in allusion to Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner).
- Golf a double eagle.
Etymology
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’.
