anchovy

Meaning

Noun

• 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.

Origin

• 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 (which may be formed like Sanskrit अभ्व); others suggest it comes from Basque antxu, anchu, from anchuva, if that Basque term is not itself derived from Latin via some intermediary.