Meet the ultimate marine predator on the planet: the killer whale. The name originally being “whale killer” itself was given to them from ancient sailors who witnessed the killing power of these beasts. The term was eventually flipped. The Latin origin, Orcinus, means ‘of the kingdom of the dead’. This meaning is derived from the Roman god Orcus who was from the netherworld and punished those who did evil. The English definition for ‘Orca’ means “barrel-shaped”, so you can follow whichever definition you like best (aka the Latin one).