What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Penguin vs Dolphin - What's the difference?

penguin | dolphin |

As nouns the difference between penguin and dolphin

is that penguin is any of several flightless sea birds, of order Sphenisciformes, found in the Southern Hemisphere; marked by their usual upright stance, walking on short legs, and (generally) their stark black and white plumage while dolphin is a carnivorous aquatic mammal inhabiting mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, famed for its intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.

penguin

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any of several flightless sea birds, of order Sphenisciformes , found in the Southern Hemisphere; marked by their usual upright stance, walking on short legs, and (generally) their stark black and white plumage.
  • * 1638 , (Thomas Herbert), Some Yeares Travels , I:
  • Here are also birds cal'd Pen-gwins'' (white-head in ''Welch ) like Pigmies walking upright, their finns or wings hanging very orderly downe like sleeves [...].
  • (slang) A nun (because of the black and white habit).
  • (juggling) A type of catch where the palm of the hand is facing towards the leg with the arm stretched downward, resembling the flipper of a penguin.
  • (botany) A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit, .
  • Derived terms

    * Adelie penguin * African penguin * Chatham Island penguin * chinstrap penguin * crested penguin * emperor penguin * erect-crested penguin * fairy penguin * Fiordland penguin * Galapagos penguin * gentoo penguin * Humboldt penguin * jackass penguin * king penguin * little penguin * macaroni penguin * Magellanic penguin * penguinery * Ridgen's penguin * rockhopper penguin * royal penguin * Snares penguin * white-flippered penguin * yellow-eyed penguin

    References

    dolphin

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) dolfin, from (etyl) daulphin, dalphin, daufin, from (etyl) "womb".

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A carnivorous aquatic mammal inhabiting mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, famed for its intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
  • A fish, the mahi-mahi or dorado, Coryphaena hippurus , with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.
  • The dauphin, eldest son of the kings of France.
  • (historical) A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped through the deck and the hull of an enemy's vessel to sink it.
  • (nautical) A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.
  • (nautical) A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables.
  • A mooring post on a wharf or beach.
  • A permanent fender around a heavy boat just below the gunwale.
  • (military, obsolete) One of the handles above the trunnions by which a gun was lifted.
  • (Webster 1913)
    Synonyms
    *
    Derived terms
    (terms derived from dolphin) * Amazon River dolphin * Arabian common dolphin * Atlantic humpback dolphin * Atlantic spotted dolphin * Atlantic white-sided dolphin * Australian snubfin dolphin * bottlenose dolphin * Chilean dolphin * Commerson's dolphin * common dolphin * delphine * dolphin hugger * dolphinarium * dolphin-friendly * dusky dolphin * flog the dolphin * Fraser's dolphin * Ganges and Indus River dolphin * Heaviside's dolphin * Hector's dolphin * hourglass dolphin * humpback dolphin dolphin * Indian humpback dolphin * Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin * Irrawaddy dolphin * La Plata dolphin * long-beaked common dolphin * northern right whale dolphin * Pacific humpback dolphin * Pacific white-sided dolphin * Peale's dolphin * Risso's dolphin * rought-toothed dolphin * short-beaked common dolphin * southern right whale dolphin * spinner dolphin * striped dolphin * white-beaked dolphin * wholphin * Yangtze river dolphin

    See also

    * killer whale * pod * porpoise * sea lion * seal * whale

    Etymology 2

    From (duc d'Albe in French), who was the first to let build this type of structures in the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) A man-made semi submerged maritime structure, usually installed to provide a fixed structure for temporary mooring, to prevent ships from drifting to shallow water or to serve as base for navigational aids.