bacallà

Concepts

cod

codfish

stockfish

pollack

pollock

dried cod

Pollachius pollachius

Atlantic cod

salt cod

bank cod

Synonyms

abadeig

bacallà sec

Translations

bacalao

morue

bacalhau

Dorsch

merluzzo

Kabeljau

kabeljauw

baccalà

cabillaud

μπακαλιάρος

morina

βακαλάος

merluça

Pronounced as (IPA)

[bə.kəˈʎa]

Etymology

Cognate with French: cabillaud

Cognate with German: Kabeljau

Cognate with Dutch: kabeljauw

Cognate with Italian: baccalà

Cognate with Portuguese: bacalhau

Cognate with Spanish: bacalao

In summary

From Dutch bakkeljauw, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Latin baculum (“stick, staff”), referring to the way cod were split and dried on wooden sticks.
If the element *bak- is a metathesis of *kab- (compare French cabillaud and German Kabeljau from Dutch kabeljauw), then the original form of the word could have been *cabalao, maybe meaning "large-headed fish". First attested in 1640.
Cognate to Italian baccalà, Portuguese bacalhau, Spanish bacalao.