Meanings
- abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Orkney Islands.
1 more example
Orkney is an archipelago of 70 or so islands lying off the northeast tip of Scotland. “Everywhere in Orkney there is the sense of age, the dark backward and abysm,” the late Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown wrote. “The islands have been inhabited for a very long time, from before the day of the plough.”
2025, Peter Ross, “Discover the Astounding Secrets of Scotland’s Stone Age Settlements. In the Orkney Islands, archaeologists close the chapter on a legendary excavation, capping two decades of remarkable Neolithic discoveries”, in Smithsonian, volume 55, number 7: January/February - A historical county of Scotland, United Kingdom.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Celtic*orkā“pine”
- Proto-Celtic*ɸorkos“young pig”
- Ancient GreekΌρκάδες
- Old Norseørkn“seal”
- Old NorseOrkneyjar“seal islands”
- EnglishOrkney
From Old Norse Orkneyjar (“seal islands”), from Old Norse ørkn (“seal”) + ey (“island”). The modern form is singular. Ninth-century Norwegian settlers reinterpreted the Pictish/Proto-Brythonic name for the islands, recorded as Ancient Greek Όρκάδες (Órkádes), which was derived from Proto-Celtic *ɸorkos (“young pig”). Less common theories include a connection with Welsh erch (“speckled”) (on the basis of the Welsh form Erch) or Proto-Celtic *orkā (“pine”) (however, these islands are known for their lack of trees).
More words from Old Norse, Ancient Greek, Proto-Celtic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Orkney. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Orkney
“Orkney.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Orkney. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Orkney,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Orkney.
Source: Orkney on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.