shad

Meaning

1. Any one of several species of food fishes that make up the genus Alosa in the family Clupeidae, to which the herrings also belong; river herring.
2. Any bluefish of species Pomatomus saltatrix.

Synonyms

alewife

allis shad

alose

hood

rock herring

roof

shack

Clupeidae

Tenualosa toli

Alosa

blueback herring

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃæd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: shadde

Inherited from Old English: sceadd

Cognate with Scottish Gaelic: sgadan

Cognate with Welsh: ysgadan

Cognate with Norwegian: skadd

Cognate with Old Norse: skata

In summary

From Middle English shadde, from Old English sceadd, possibly from Celtic (compare Scottish Gaelic sgadan (“herring”), Welsh ysgadan) or from Scandinavian/North Germanic (compare dialectal Norwegian skadd (“small whitefish”), Old Norse skata (“kind of fish”)), but the order of borrowing is unclear and the ultimate origin of these words is obscure.