Link Centre Dictionary

shad

UK/ʃæd/ US/ˈʃæd/ rare

noun

1.

bony flesh of herring-like fish usually caught during their migration to fresh water for spawning; especially of Atlantic coast

2.

herring-like food fishes that migrate from the sea to fresh water to spawn

Origin

From Middle English shadde, from Old English sċeadd, of uncertain origin. Compare Low German Schade (“shad, herring”), Scottish Gaelic sgadan (“herring”), Welsh ysgadan. Possibly 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.

Phrases

  • Agrakhan shad
  • Alabama shad
  • allis shad
  • American shad
  • Astrabad shad
  • Azov shad
  • Black Sea shad
  • Caspian anadromous shad

Related words

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.