What is the meaning of the word Alcatraz???

Question

What is the meaning of the word Alcatraz???

Answer 1

its a kind of bird...but at present people will be thinking of the highly guarded prison known as Alcatraz island...

Answer 2

small island in San Francisco Bay: site of a federal prison (1934-63)

Etymology: after Sp Isla de Alcatraces, Island of Pelicans

http://www.yourdictionary.com/alcatraz

A rocky island of western California in San Francisco Bay. It was a military prison from 1859 to 1933 and a federal prison until 1963. It is now a tourist attraction. The island has long been known as “the Rock.”

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Alcatraz Island

Rocky island in San Francisco Bay, California, U.S. It has an area of 22 acres (9 hectares) and is located 1.5 mi (2 km) offshore from the city of San Francisco. The site of the first lighthouse (1854) on the California coast, it became an army garrison (1859) and a military prison (1868). From 1934 to 1963 it served as a federal prison for dangerous civilian prisoners. Its famous inmates included Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz." It is now open to the public.

US History Encyclopedia: Alcatraz

Alcatraz, an island in San Francisco Bay, California, was discovered by Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. The United States took possession of the island in 1850 and fortified it, using it first as a military prison and later as a federal prison, beginning in 1933. Because of the strong, cold currents surrounding the island, most authorities considered it escape proof. Of the twenty-six prisoners who attempted escapes, five remain unaccounted for. The prison closed in 1963.

Spotlight: Alcatraz

Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay was cleared of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy on this date in 1963. The island was named by the Spanish for its large pelican colony. The US took control of the island in 1851 and eight years later turned it into a military prison. In the early 1930s it became a federal prison for extremely dangerous criminals. Some of the more famous inmates of "The Rock" were Al Capone and Robert Franklin Stroud.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Alcatraz

(ăl'kətrăz') [Sp. Álcatraces=pelicans], rocky island in San Francisco Bay, W Calif, about one mile (1.61 km) north of San Francisco. Alcatraz was first sighted by the Spanish in 1772 (and possibly three years earlier). Its name derives from the presence of a pelican colony, but Spanish and Mexican maps referred to Yerba Buena Island as Alcatraz until 1826, when the two islands clearly acquired their present names.

http://www.answers.com/Alcatraz

Answer 3

jail bird

Answer 4

Pelican.

Answer 5

well i know it's an island and used to host a federal prison but now it's administered by the national park service...isn't an alcatraz a type of bird?

Answer 6

Island of birds, I think.  It's a specific type of bird, but I forget which.  It was given to the island by the early settlers, may have been the Spanish.

Answer 7

Alcatraz...A jail on a small island in San Francisco. Spanish Origin appears to be mean "Island of the Pelicans." I say best "slang" definition would be "Jail Bird."

Answer 8

pelicans

Answer 9

its a geographical name of an island , island California in San Francisco Bay .you can read about its history here ,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatraz.

Answer 10

It can mean 'pelican'. It is also know as 'the rock' but neither Wikipedia nor Google have a meaning for the word.

Answer 11

The word is an old spanish word meaning "Island of the Pelicans".

Answer 12

The name Alcatraz is derived from the Spanish "Alcatraces." In 1775, the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to sail into what is now known as San Francisco Bay - his expedition mapped the bay and named one of the three islands Alcatraces. Over time, the name was Anglicized to Alcatraz. While the exact meaning is still debated, Alcatraz is usually defined as meaning "pelican" or "strange bird."