catfish

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth.
2. (countable, uncountable) The meat of such a fish, popular in the Southern U.S. and Central Europe.

Verb

To fish for catfish.

Verb

To create and operate a fake online profile to deceive (someone).

Synonyms

wolf fish

wolffish

mudcat

siluriform fish

cat-fish

anabas

fish

🐟

Chinese nose

Guatemalan chulín

barbu threadfin

beard fish

brown large-eyed croaker

Ketengus typus

sheathfish

European catfish

barbu

Atlantic wolffish

wolf-fish

ocean whitefish

reef coraker

rita

tomker seertle

bullhead

Tandan

large

sheatfish

small

threadfin

Translations

silure

poisson-chat

Wels

meerval

siluro

bagre

pesce gatto

γατόψαρο

bagre

barbo

peixe-gato

Katzenfisch

Plotosus arab

Synodontis ocellifer

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkætfɪʃ/

Etymology

Cognate with Western Frisian: katfisk

Cognate with Dutch: katvis

Cognate with German: Seekatze

In summary

From cat + fish. Likely so named for its prominent barbels like a cat's whiskers. Compare West Frisian katfisk (“catfish”), Dutch katvis (“catfish”). Compare also German Seekatze (“catfish”, literally “sea-cat”).