anchovy

English
line drawing of a Common European Anchovy

Wikispecies

Etymology

From Spanish anchova, 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’)[1]; others suggest it comes from Basque antxu, anchu (“dried fish”), from anchuva (“dry”),[2] if that Basque term is not itself derived from Latin via some intermediary.[3]

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæn.tʃə.vi/, /ˈæn.tʃəʊ.vi/, /ænˈtʃəʊ.vi/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæn.tʃoʊ.vi/, /ænˈtʃoʊ.vi/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

anchovy (plural anchovies)

  1. Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in 16 genera, of which the genus Engraulis is widely sold as food.

Translations

References
  1. Michael Meier-Brügger, “Griechisch ἀφύη ‘Bratfischchen’, ved. ábhva- ‘Unding’, myk. a-phu-”, Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft 52 (1991): 123–5.
  2. “anchovy” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
  3. Robert Lawrence Trask, The History of Basque
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