anchovy

Meaning

Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in sixteen genera, those of the genus Engraulis being widely sold as food.

Synonyms

anchovies

hornbeam

minnow

pinhead

sardine

small fish

Californian anchoveta

North Pacific anchovy

Peruvian anchoveta

bay anchovy

mediterranean anchovy

tapenade

Californian anchovy

piquitinga

large z’anchois

longjaw thryssa

northern anchovy

oblique-jaw thryssa

Niçoise salad

Translations

anchois

acciuga

anchoa

Sardelle

ansjovis

alice

anchova

boquerón

αντσούγια

hamsi

anxova

Anchovis

enchova

Anschovis

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi/

Etymology

Cognate with Sanskrit: अभ्व

In summary

From Spanish anchoa, from Genoese Ligurian anciôa or related Corsican anchjuva, anciua. The term's ultimate origin is unclear; some suggest it may have derived from an unattested Vulgar Latin term *apiuva, from Latin aphyē, apua, from Ancient Greek ἀφύη (aphúē) (which may be formed like Sanskrit अभ्व (ábhva-, “monster”)); others suggest it comes from Basque antxu, anchu (“dried fish”), from anchuva (“dry”), if that Basque term is not itself derived from Latin via some intermediary. None of these hypotheses is satisfactory because of the phonetic irregularities.