If you've ever wondered where the term, "penguin," originated, this little blurb admits that the sailor who named them, probably didn't even see a penguin, but that the name stuck anyway. Read on:
The new Oxford English, launched online yesterday, says that while penguins were being referred to as gare-fowl in the far north of Europe, the Welsh coined the term from two words – pen (head) and gwyn (white).
The first written citation is in 1577 from the log of the Golden Hind – Sir Francis Drake’s ship.
It reads: “Infinite were the Numbers of the foule, the Welsh men name Pengwin & Maglanus tearmed them Geese.”
But this has long divided language researchers with some doubting whether the word’s origins are Welsh because penguins tend to have black rather than white heads.
Source
The new Oxford English, launched online yesterday, says that while penguins were being referred to as gare-fowl in the far north of Europe, the Welsh coined the term from two words – pen (head) and gwyn (white).
The first written citation is in 1577 from the log of the Golden Hind – Sir Francis Drake’s ship.
It reads: “Infinite were the Numbers of the foule, the Welsh men name Pengwin & Maglanus tearmed them Geese.”
But this has long divided language researchers with some doubting whether the word’s origins are Welsh because penguins tend to have black rather than white heads.
Source
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