orc
n. countablen. a strong, ugly, and violent creature found in fantasy stories like The Lord of the Rings. They are usually shown as soldiers in an evil army.
n. a mythical humanoid creature, typically depicted as aggressive, brutish, and malevolent. Popularised by J.R.R. Tolkien, the term now serves as a standard archetype in fantasy literature and gaming.
The hero fought a group of orcs in the dark forest.
In many tabletop role-playing games, orcs are portrayed as powerful warriors with their own distinct tribal culture and language.
While early fantasy literature often used orcs as simple, monstrous antagonists, modern writers frequently subvert this trope by giving them complex motivations and individual agency within the narrative.
From Middle French orque, Italian orca, and their source, Latin orca (“type of whale”). Doublet of orca.
Probably from Italian orco (“man-eating giant”); later revived by J. R. R. Tolkien, partly after Old English orc, which he took to mean "demon". Both are from Latin Orcus (“the underworld; the god Pluto”). Doublet of ogre and Orcus. Etymology 2 sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian орк (ork, “evil monstrous humanoid creature; orc”) or Russian орк (ork), both from the English word and possibly under the influence of Russian у́рка (úrka, “criminal”, prison slang). Popularized in English in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.