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Added 9 October 2026

herring

/ˈhɛɹɪŋ/ noun

In Latin: chalcis, merlucius, haringus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about herring at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Valuable flesh of fatty fish from shallow waters of northern Atlantic or Pacific; usually salted or pickled.
Commercially important food fish of northern waters of both Atlantic and Pacific.

Origin

From Middle English hering, from Old English hǣring, from Proto-West Germanic *hāring (“herring”), further etymology unknown. Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”) + -ing, due to the similarity of their fine bones to hair. Cognate with Scots hering, haring (“herring”), Saterland Frisian Hiering, Häiring (“herring”), West Frisian hjerring (“herring”), Dutch haring (“herring”), German Low German Hereng, Hering (“herring”), German Hering (“herring”), Bavarian Haring (“herring”). Late Latin haringus (whence French hareng, etc.) is borrowed from Germanic.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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