orca

noun

or·​ca ˈȯr-kə 

plural orcas or orca

: a relatively small toothed whale (Orcinus orca of the family Delphinidae) that is black above with white underparts and white oval-shaped patches behind the eyes : killer whale

Orcas are … the most agile and streamlined of the cetaceans. Found throughout the world, they are intelligent, social, and matriarchal.

—Marguerite Holloway

At the end of the food chain sustained by the krill is the orca … a spectacular animal patterned in black and white, that hunts in groups of up to thirty or forty, feeding on penguins, porpoises and seals.

—John Vandenbeld

There they were, wild orcas. Adrenaline rushed through my body, but I clung to the dock. I knew nothing of these waters or this northern wilderness.

—Alexandra Morton

… nowhere in the world are orca easier to see than on Puget Sound, where new whale-watching cruises bring you close to one of the few resident populations.

—Sunset

Examples of orca in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Genetic and behavioral analyses also suggest that there has been little interbreeding between the Bigg’s orcas and the resident orcas in recent years. —Emily Anthes, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2024

The practice of keeping whales like the orca in this clip is slowly coming to an end — meaning encounters like this may not happen forever. —Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024

This isn’t the first time orcas and other marine species have struggled due to drift ice. —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024

Toward the end of a Jan. 23 tour, boaters spotted four orcas hunting sea lions, Monterey Bay Whale Watch said in a Jan. 24 Facebook post. —Moira Ritter, Sacramento Bee, 24 Jan. 2024

The Iberian orcas’ interactions with boats could be just another passing trend. —Rachel Riederer, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2023

The orcas assaulted the pair for at least an hour, eventually killing the younger whale while exhausting the mother. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024

According to the documents filed with Port Angeles, Ebb’s technology includes comprehensive monitoring, modeling, and reporting systems to track the chemistry of the seawater and health of the marine ecosystem, from tiny plankton, seaweed, and salmon to the largest orcas and humpback whales. —IEEE Spectrum, 26 Mar. 2024

This is no consolation to sailors, some of whom have tried to take their own revenge on the orcas, shooting at them, lighting firecrackers, and playing heavy-metal music underwater to drive them away. —Sallie Tisdale, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, a genus name, earlier a specific epithet (Delphinus orca, Linnaeus), going back to Latin, "a marine mammal, probably Risso's dolphin," borrowed (perhaps via Etruscan) from Greek oryg-, óryx "kind of marine mammal" — more at oryx

Note: The Roman grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus assumed that the form of the Latin word reflected a different word orca, "kind of narrow-necked earthenware vessel," from the animal's supposed resemblance to the vase.

First Known Use

1726, in the meaning defined above