cormorant
Syllables: cor·mor·antUK/ˈkɔːməɹənt//ˈkɔɹməɹənt/
cormorant noun: any of various medium-large black seabirds of the family Phalacrocoracidae which dive into water for fish and other aquatic animals, found throughout the world except for islands in the centre of the Pacific Ocean; specifically, the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo).
Noun
cormorant (plural cormorants)
- Any of various medium-large black seabirds of the family Phalacrocoracidae which dive into water for fish and other aquatic animals, found throughout the world except for islands in the centre of the Pacific Ocean; specifically, the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo).
- Th' Eele-murthering Hearne, and greedy Cormorant, / That neare the Creekes in moriſh Marſhes haunt.1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England...
- Thence up he [Satan] flew, and on the Tree of Life, / The middle Tree and higheſt there that grew, / Sat like a Cormorant; […]1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- A voracious eater; also, a person who, or thing which, is aggressively greedy for wealth, etc.
- In lyke maner who will nat haue in extreme detestation the insatiable gloteny of Vitellius, Fabius Gurges, Apicius, and dyuers other, to whiche carmorantes, neither lande, water, ne ayre, mought be sufficient.1531, Thomas Elyot, “Of Sobrietie in Diete”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson]...
- VVith eagre feeding foode doth choke the feeder, / Light vanitie inſatiate cormorant, / Conſuming meanes ſoone praies vpon it ſelfe: […]1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597...
Adjective
cormorant (comparative more cormorant, superlative most cormorant)
- Voracious; aggressively greedy.
- Anti-masonry is as cormorant as death, and will not be satisfied though one half the human race be immolated to appease its infernal appetite.1830, Boston Masonic Mirror, page 398
- ... the victims of fanaticism who frequent Exeter Hall, to be plucked by tax gatherers more cormorant than your own excise-men at home?1842, Weekly Globe, page 261
cormorant meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam
cormorant in Tamil
- seabird of the family Phalacrocoracidae
- நீர்க்காகம் nīrkkākam, நீர்க்காக்கை nīrkkākkai
cormorant in Urdu
- seabird of the family Phalacrocoracidae
- کارمورنٹ
cormorant in Telugu
- seabird of the family Phalacrocoracidae
- జలకాకము jalakākamu, మద్గువు madguvu, నీరుకాకి nīrukāki
cormorant in Malayalam
- seabird of the family Phalacrocoracidae
- നീർക്കാക്ക nīṟkkākka
More languagesFewer languages
- cormorant in Assamese
- দৈকলা doikola, কাউৰী kauri, পানী কাউৰী pani kauri
- cormorant in Tagalog
- kasili, korbehon
- cormorant in Arabic
- غَاقِيَات ḡāqiyāt
- cormorant in Persian
- باکلان bâklân, قرهقار qara-qâz
- cormorant in Vietnamese
- cốc, cốc đế
- cormorant in Myanmar
- တင်ကျီးငှက် tangkyi:hngak
Examples of cormorant in a sentence
- The cormorant on high / VVheels from the deep, and ſcreams along the land.a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Winter”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published...
- I may mention, that I one day observed a cormorant playing with a fish which it had caught.1839, Charles Darwin, chapter XII, in Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years...
- These pictures were in water colours. […] One gleam of light lifted into relief a half-submerged mast, on which sat a cormorant, dark and large, with wings flecked with foam; […]1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XIII, in Jane Eyre. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […]...
- I have an appetite like a cormorant, am full of life, and sleep well.1897, Bram Stoker, chapter IX, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter IX, page 117:
Synonyms of cormorant
12 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of cormorant
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | cormorants |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more cormorant |
| superlative | most cormorant |
Origin of cormorant
PIE word *ḱorh₂wós From Middle English cormeraunt (“great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo); other types of aquatic bird”) [and other forms], from Old French cormaran, cor-maraunt [and other forms] (modern French cormoran), possibly variants of *corp-marin, from Medieval Latin corvus marīnus (literally “sea-raven”), with the ending -morant possibly derived from French moran (“marine, maritime”), from Breton mor (“sea”), with -an corrupted in English to -ant. Latin corvus is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorh₂wós (“raven”), which is imitative of the harsh cry of the bird; while marīnus (“of or pertaining to the sea, marine”) is from Latin mare (“sea”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *móri (“sea; standing water”), possibly from *mer- (“sea; lake; wetland”)) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Cognates * Catalan corbmari * Occitan corpmari * Portuguese corvomarinho
Words formed from cormorant
Phrases with cormorant
- sea cormorant
- great cormorant
- green cormorant
- pygmy cormorant
- Guanay cormorant
- Brandt's cormorant
- Magellan cormorant
- blue-eyed cormorant
- red-faced cormorant
- flightless cormorant
- red-legged cormorant
- spectacled cormorant
2 more phrasesFewer phrases
Questions about cormorant
- What does cormorant mean?
- Cormorant means any of various medium-large black seabirds of the family Phalacrocoracidae which dive into water for fish and other aquatic animals, found throughout the world except for islands in the centre of the Pacific Ocean; specifically, the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo).
- What is cormorant in Tamil?
- Cormorant in Tamil is நீர்க்காகம் (nīrkkākam), நீர்க்காக்கை (nīrkkākkai). See Cormorant meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use cormorant in a sentence?
- The cormorant on high / VVheels from the deep, and ſcreams along the land.
- What part of speech is cormorant?
- Cormorant can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce cormorant?
- Cormorant is pronounced /ˈkɔːməɹənt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cormorant?
- The plural of cormorant is cormorants.
Words near cormorant in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cormorant (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-cormorant.ogg.
Cite this entry: “cormorant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cormorant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.