tautog
/ˈtɔːtɒɡ/ noun
Forms tautogs
- noun A fish of the wrasse family found in salt water off of eastern North America from Nova Scotia to South Carolina (Tautoga onitis).
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Narragansett tautauog, plural of taut.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An edible labroid fish (Haitula onitis, or Tautoga onitis) of the Atlantic coast of the United States. When adult it is nearly black, more or less irregularly barred, with greenish gray. Called also blackfish, oyster fish, salt-water chub, and moll. [Written also tautaug.]
Etymology [The pl. of taut, the American Indian name, translated by Roger Williams sheep's heads, and written by him tautaúog.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tautog”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details