Wels

Meaning

1. (masculine, strong) wels catfish, Silurus glanis
2. (masculine, strong) catfish, any fish of the order Siluriformes

Concepts

catfish

freshwater catfish

wels catfish

Wels

Synonyms

Katzenwels

Pronounced as (IPA)

/vɛls/

Etymology

From Middle High German wels, from Old High German *wals, *walis, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaliʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”). Cognate with German Low German Wels (“catfish”), Dutch wels (“catfish”), Old High German walira (“whale”), German Wal (“whale”).