orca
UK/ˈɔːkə/US/ˈoɹkə/
orca noun: a sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
Noun
orca (plural orcas or orca)
- A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
- 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...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...
- Synonyms:
- blackfish, grampus, killer, killer whale, orc
orca meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Assamese and Arabic
orca in Tamil
- இதுவும் ஒரு சிற்றினம் ஆகும்
orca in Marathi
- ''Orcinus orca''
- हिंसक देवमासा hiusak devmāsā, ऑर्का ŏrkā
orca in Assamese
- ''Orcinus orca''
- অৰকা oroka
orca in Arabic
- ''Orcinus orca''
- حُوت قَاتِل ḥūt qātil
More languagesFewer languages
- orca in Indonesian
- seguni
- orca in Persian
- ارکا orkâ
- orca in Thai
- วาฬเพชฌฆาต waan-pét-chá-kâat
- orca in Vietnamese
- cá voi sát thủ, cá kình, cá hổ kình
Synonyms of orca
Forms of orca
| plural | orcas |
|---|---|
| plural | orca |
Origin of orca
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.
Words formed from orca
Questions about orca
- What does orca mean?
- Orca means a sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
- What is orca in Tamil?
- Orca in Tamil is இதுவும் ஒரு சிற்றினம் ஆகும். See Orca meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is orca?
- Orca is a noun.
- How do you pronounce orca?
- Orca is pronounced /ˈoɹkə/ (US).
- What is the plural of orca?
- The plural of orca is orcas.
Words near orca in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: orca (page history and authors); orca (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-orca.oga.
Cite this entry: “orca.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/orca. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.