Inflected forms: pl. albatross or al·ba·tross·es 1. Any of several large web-footed birds constituting the family Diomedeidae, chiefly of the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings. 2a. A constant, worrisome burden. b. An obstacle to success.
ETYMOLOGY:
Probably alteration (influenced by Latin albus, white) of alcatras, pelican, from Portuguese or Spanish alcatraz, from Arabic al-as : al-, the + as, diver, sea eagle (from aasa, to plunge, dive; see s in Appendix II). Sense 2, after the albatross in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which the mariner killed and had to wear around his neck as a penance.
l
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-trôs
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s : al-, the + 
