Orkney

English

Etymology

From Old Norse Orkneyjar (“seal islands”), from Old Norse ørkn (“seal”) + ey (“island”). The modern form is singular. Ninth-century Norwegian settlers reinterpreted the Pictish/Proto-Brythonic name for the islands, recorded as Ancient Greek Όρκάδες (Órkádes), which was derived from Proto-Celtic *ɸorkos (“young pig”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɔː(ɹ)kni/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Proper noun

Orkney

  1. Ellipsis of Orkney Islands.
    • 2025, Peter Ross, “Discover the Astounding Secrets of Scotland’s Stone Age Settlements. In the Orkney Islands, archaeologists close the chapter on a legendary excavation, capping two decades of remarkable Neolithic discoveries”, in Smithsonian‎[1], volume 55, number 7: January/February:
      Orkney is an archipelago of 70 or so islands lying off the northeast tip of Scotland. “Everywhere in Orkney there is the sense of age, the dark backward and abysm,” the late Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown wrote. “The islands have been inhabited for a very long time, from before the day of the plough.”
  2. A historical county of Scotland, United Kingdom.

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