puffin

noun

puf·​fin ˈpə-fən 

: any of several seabirds (genus Fratercula) of the northern hemisphere having a short neck and a deep grooved parti-colored laterally compressed bill

Illustration of puffin

Examples of puffin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Less edible, but just as beguiling, are Amble’s puffins, which number up to 40,000 during their nesting season spent on Coquet Island, a mile or so offshore. —Rob Crossan, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 May 2026

Among the stops will be Kodiak Island, where bears and puffin colonies abound; Juneau, the capital; and Ketchikan, a popular spot for cruise ships. —Scott Laird, Travel + Leisure, 12 May 2026

The best way to experience this national park is from the water, and there are plenty of cruise tours available to take in the scenery and wildlife (think seals, sea lions, sea otters, puffins, orcas, whales, and eagles). —Dave Parfitt, USA Today, 9 May 2026

Most recently, the couple travelled to Reykjavik, Iceland, with her parents, and saw puffins on the Westman Islands. —Wendy Grossman Kantor, PEOPLE, 16 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English puffoun, poffin, pophyn "young of the shearwater Puffinus puffinus collected as food," probably borrowed from an unattested Middle Cornish cognate of Breton (Léon dialect) pocʼhan, pogan "puffin," (Basse-Cornouaille dialect) bocʼhanig (diminutive), probably a derivative of bocʼh "cheek" (Middle Cornish bogh), of uncertain origin

Note: Breton bocʼh and Middle Cornish bogh may descend from a British Celtic borrowing from Latin bucca "lower part of the cheeks, jaw, puffed-out cheeks," unless this word is itself a Celtic loan.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing puffin

• Atlantic puffin

Rhymes for puffin

• akin
• auxin
• buckskin
• chagrin
• crankpin
• deerskin
• foreskin
• fuchsin
• herein
• kingpin
• linchpin
• pigskin

Kids Definition

puffin

noun

puf·​fin ˈpəf-ən 

: any of several seabirds that are related to the auks and have a short thick neck and a deep grooved bill marked with different colors