From Middle French orque, Italian orca, and their source, Latin orca (“type of whale”). Doublet of orca.
Meanings
(archaic) Any of several large, ferocious sea creatures, now especially the killer whale.
The latter phenomenon is similar to the conceptual division seen in Ainu society between kimun-kamuy, the bear spirit of the mountains, and repun-kamuy, the orc or dolphin spirit of the sea. 1992, Utagawa Hiroshi, “The ‘Sending-Back’ Rite in Ainu Culture”, in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, volumes 19/2–3, page 265:
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 English orc and possibly under the influence of Russian у́рка (úrka, “criminal”, prison slang). Popularized in English in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanings
A mythical evil monstrous humanoid creature, usually quite aggressive and often green.
There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head. 1954, JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring:
The chief exploit of the hero, Beowulf the Great, is the destruction of the two monsters Grendel and his mother; both like most of the evil beings in the old times, dwellers in the fens and the waters; and both, moreover, as some Christian bard has taken care to inform us, of "Cain's kin," as were also the eotens, and the elves, and the orcs (eótenas, and ylfe, and orcneas). 1834, "The National Fairy Mythology of England" in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, p. 53
Who at one stroke didst pare away three heads from off the shoulders of an Orke, begotten by an Incubus. 1656, Samuel Holland, Don Zara del Fogo, I.1:
(derogatory, slang) A Russian soldier or gangster.
Plenty of Belarusian exiles have gone to Europe, but if you run West, then the Orcs [a Ukrainian slang term for "Russian soldiers"] will just follow you there. It's better to risk your life as a free person than to keep running. 2022 July 25, Michael Wasiura, “Belarusian Exiles Join Ukrainians in Taking Up Arms Against Russia”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 17 Aug 2022, retrieved 25 Jul 2022:
And now we must watch the old world go up in flames, in the mad spectacle of Putin’s orcs descending upon Kyiv to execute his macabre plan. 2022 March 1, Bruno Maçães, “Europe’s Illusion of Peace Has Been Irrevocably Shattered”, in Time:
Ukrainians themselves, including those on the right, preferred to call the events the 'Revolution of Dignity', depicted not in terms of ethnicity or class, but in simple civic black and white – a revolution of the people against Yanukovych's 'Mordor' and his 'Orcs'. 2015, Andrew Wilson, The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation, page 354:
(Internet, broadly, ethnic, slur) A Russian person.