Meanings
plural orcas
- A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
1 more example
In the summer, when the weather is calm and beautiful, large flocks of orcæ can be seen approaching the shallow places near the shore, or between the numerous islands of the White Sea. Several fishermen associate for hunting orcæ, each one furnishing a boat, and a large seine made of cords of the thickness of a finger, the meshes being 10½ inches square.
1876, Alexander Schultz, “Account of the Fisheries and Seal-Hunting in the White Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Caspian Sea”, in United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part III. Report of the Commissioner for 1873-4 and 1874-5., Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, page 55Synonyms: blackfish, grampus, killer, killer whale, orc
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
More synonyms by meaning
nounpredatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinorca“tun, cask; whale”
- Englishorca
Learned borrowing from Latin orca (“tun, cask; whale”), see there for more. Although the origin is obscure, the sometimes-cited association with orcus (“underworld”) is folk-etymology. Doublet of orc.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans moordvis, orka
- moordvis''Orcinus orca''
- orka''Orcinus orca''
Arabic حُوت قَاتِل
- حُوت قَاتِل (ḥūt qātil)''Orcinus orca''
Bulgarian коса́тка
- коса́тка (kosátka)''Orcinus orca''
Catalan orca
- orca''Orcinus orca''
Chinese Mandarin 逆戟鯨 /逆戟鲸, 虎鯨 /虎鲸
- 逆戟鯨 /逆戟鲸 (nìjǐjīng)''Orcinus orca''
- 虎鯨 /虎鲸 (hǔjīng)''Orcinus orca''
- 殺人鯨 /杀人鲸 (shārénjīng)''Orcinus orca''
Czech kosatka
- kosatka''Orcinus orca''
Danish spækhugger
- spækhugger''Orcinus orca''
Dutch orka, zwaardwalvis
- orka''Orcinus orca''
- zwaardwalvis''Orcinus orca''
Esperanto orko, granda orcino
- orko''Orcinus orca''
- granda orcino''Orcinus orca''
Finnish miekkavalas
- miekkavalas''Orcinus orca''
French épaulard, orque
- épaulard''Orcinus orca''
- orque''Orcinus orca''
German Schwertwal, Mörderwal
- Schwertwal''Orcinus orca''
- Mörderwal''Orcinus orca''
- Killerwal''Orcinus orca''
Hungarian kardszárnyú delfin, orka
- kardszárnyú delfin''Orcinus orca''
- orka''Orcinus orca''
- gyilkos bálna''Orcinus orca''
Icelandic háhyrningur
- háhyrningur''Orcinus orca''
Indonesian seguni
- seguni''Orcinus orca''
Italian orca
- orca''Orcinus orca''
Japanese 鯱, さかまた
- 鯱 (shachi)''Orcinus orca''
- さかまた (sakamata)''Orcinus orca''
Korean 범고래
- 범고래 (beomgorae)''Orcinus orca''
Latvian zobenvalis
- zobenvalis''Orcinus orca''
Māori maki, kākahi
- maki''Orcinus orca''
- kākahi''Orcinus orca''
Norwegian spekkhogger
- spekkhogger''Orcinus orca''
Persian ارکا
- ارکا (orkâ)''Orcinus orca''
Polish orka, miecznik
- orka''Orcinus orca''
- miecznik''Orcinus orca''
Portuguese orca
- orca''Orcinus orca''
Romanian orca
- orca''Orcinus orca''
Russian коса́тка, каса́тка
- коса́тка (kosátka)''Orcinus orca''
- каса́тка (kasátka)''Orcinus orca''
- кит-уби́йца (kit-ubíjca)''Orcinus orca''
Scottish Gaelic cana, mada-chuain
- cana''Orcinus orca''
- mada-chuain''Orcinus orca''
Slovak kosatka
- kosatka''Orcinus orca''
Spanish orca, orco
- orca''Orcinus orca''
- orco''Orcinus orca''
- urca''Orcinus orca''
Swedish späckhuggare
- späckhuggare''Orcinus orca''
Thai วาฬเพชฌฆาต
- วาฬเพชฌฆาต (waan-pét-chá-kâat)''Orcinus orca''
Turkish katil balina
- katil balina''Orcinus orca''
Ukrainian коса́тка
- коса́тка (kosátka)''Orcinus orca''
Vietnamese cá voi sát thủ, cá kình
- cá voi sát thủ''Orcinus orca''
- cá kình''Orcinus orca''
- cá hổ kình''Orcinus orca''
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
orca. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orca
“orca.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orca. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “orca,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orca.
Source: orca on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.