The name "albatross" came from the Arabic word "al-câdous" or "al-ġaţţās". This means a pelican, or can mean "the diver". This word later became English, also mixed with the Portuguese word "alcatraz", which means "gannet". This is also where the name of the prison Alcatraz comes from. The "OED" explains that the word "alcatraz" was at first supposed to be used for the frigatebird. But perhaps the change of the word to "albatross" was because of the Latin word "albus". This means "white", which is opposite to the frigatebirds which are black. In Portuguese, the word still presently used for the bird, "albatroz," came from the English albatross.