scrod

Origin

One theory derives it from scrawed, past participle of Cornwall dialect scraw (“to split and dry fish”), but the further origin of this word seems not to have been traced. Another theory derives it from an obsolete Dutch term: either from schrood (“slice, shred”), from Middle Dutch schrode, schroode, referring to the splitting of the fish; or alternatively from the related schrot (“inferior product, cull”), the scrod being originally a cod too small for filleting. In both of these cases, the word is ultimately cognate to shred. Compare East Frisian schrod (“small or worthless thing; shred”), German Schrott (“scrap”).