angelfish

American  

[eyn-juhl-fish] / ˈeɪn dʒəlˌfɪʃ /

noun

plural

angelfish,

plural

angelfishes

1. a South American freshwater fish, genus Pterophyllum, often kept in aquariums.

2. angel shark.

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angelfish British  

/ ˈeɪndʒəlˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any of various small tropical marine percoid fishes of the genus Pomacanthus and related genera, which have a deep flattened brightly coloured body and brushlike teeth: family Chaetodontidae See also butterflyfish

2. Also called: scalare.  a South American cichlid, Pterophyllum scalare, of the Amazon region, having a compressed body and large dorsal and anal fins: a popular aquarium fish

3. another name for angel shark

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Etymology

Origin of angelfish

First recorded in 1660–70; angel + fish

Example Sentences

Spiny-finned sea robin, blackfish and wayward angelfish swim in the murky ocean tinted green by sheets of algae.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 30, 2023

Animals raised by farms on land or in the ocean statewide include shrimp, oysters, clams, moi, tilapia, kampachi, koi and angelfish.

From Washington Times • Oct. 20, 2020

Later we snorkeled along the shoreline, spotting pencil urchins, neon-blue wrasse, Cortez angelfish and pushy hogfish chasing their neighbors.

From Washington Post • Oct. 1, 2020

Who needs two turtledoves or a partridge in a pear tree when there are so many species under the sea, including the seasonally appropriate angelfish?

From The New Yorker • Nov. 16, 2018

A narrow, elegant angelfish swam directly beneath me, and tickled my belly with one of its fins as it passed under.

From Home Again, Home Again by Doctorow, Cory