capelin

American  

[kap-uh-lin] / ˈkæp ə lɪn /

noun

1. either of two small fishes of the smelt family, Mallotus villosus, of coastal North American waters, or M. catervarius, of the North Pacific.

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capelin British  

/ ˈkæpəlɪn /

noun

1. a small marine food fish, Mallotus villosus, occurring in northern and Arctic seas: family Osmeridae (smelts)

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Etymology

Origin of capelin

1610–20, < Middle French capelan < Old Provençal: codfish, literally, chaplain

Example Sentences

The dove-sized marbled murrelet spends most of its time in coastal waters eating krill, other invertebrates and forage fish such as herring, anchovies, smelt and capelin.

From Science Daily • May 2, 2024

Her research focuses on the microbiomes of Arctic species and how they connect to traditional Greenlandic food culture via the transference of microbial communities—from capelin fish, through seals to humans, for example.

From National Geographic • Jan. 25, 2024

“We feed her as much as she wants to eat — anywhere from four to 10 herring, trout and capelin on an average day,” she said.

From Washington Post • Feb. 14, 2023

But in some places — particularly the places that once harbored cold-loving fish such as Arctic cod and capelin — they are just gone.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2021

The shallows we passed this day were covered with shoals of capelin, the angmaggϟk of the Esquimaux.

From Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819-20-21-22, Volume 2 by Franklin, John