tilefish

[ tahyl-fish ]

noun,plural (especially collectively) tile·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) tile·fish·es.
  1. a large, brilliantly colored food fish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, of deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

  2. any of several related fishes of the family Branchiostegidae.

Origin of tilefish

1
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; tile + fish

Words Nearby tilefish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for tilefish

tilefish

/ (ˈtaɪlˌfɪʃ) /


nounplural -fish or -fishes
  1. a large brightly coloured deep-sea percoid food fish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, of warm and tropical seas, esp the North American coast of the Atlantic: family Branchiostegidae

Origin of tilefish

1
C19: from New Latin -tilus, ending of genus name Lopholatilus; perhaps also from a resemblance between its colours and patterning and ornamental tiles

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012