alewife

[ eyl-wahyf ]

/ ˈeɪlˌwaɪf /

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noun, plural ale·wives.

a North American fish, Alosa pseudoharengus, resembling a small shad.

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Origin of alewife

1625–35, Americanism; earlier allowes, perhaps influenced by alewife², probably <French alose shad <Gallo-Latin alausa

Words nearby alewife

Aleutian Islands, Aleutian low, Aleutian Range, A level, alevin, alewife, Alex, Alexa, alexander, Alexander Archipelago, Alexander City

Other definitions for alewife (2 of 2)

alewife²

[ eyl-wahyf ]

/ ˈeɪlˌwaɪf /

noun, plural ale·wives.

a woman who owns or operates an alehouse.

Origin of alewife

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at ale, wife

How to use alewife in a sentence

Bunch (Mother), an alewife, mentioned by Dekker in his drama called Satiromastix .
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1|The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.
Among those with a familiar appearance were the sturgeon, perch, and pike, and a small fish resembling our alewife.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life|Thomas Wallace Knox
The Menhaden make their appearance in the spring with the arrival of the shad, alewife, blue-fish, and weak-fish.
Fast Nine|Alan Douglas
The tinker in like vein confesses that he has run up a score with Marian Hacket, the fat alewife of Wincot.
A Life of William Shakespeare|Sidney Lee

Alewife in old English was applied to the women, usually very stout dames, who kept alehouses.
The Log of the Sun|William Beebe

British Dictionary definitions for alewife

alewife

/ (ˈeɪlˌwaɪf) /

noun plural -wives

a North American fish, Pomolobus pseudoharengus, similar to the herring Clupea harengus: family Clupeidae (herrings)

Word Origin for alewife

C19: perhaps an alteration (through influence of alewife, that is, a large rotund woman, alluding to the fish's shape) of French alose shad

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