Added 10 October 2026
shad
/ʃæd/ noun
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about shad at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Any one of several species of food fishes that make up the family Alosidae, especially those of the genus Alosa; formerly classified as kinds of herring.
A: Are those boats after menhaden? B: No, shad.
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The American shad, as distinguished from other alosids such as menhaden.
A: Are those boats after menhaden? B: No, shad.
- Any bluefish of the species Pomatomus saltatrix.
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)