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dace

[deys]
noun, plural (especially collectively) dace, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) dac·es.
  1. a small, freshwater cyprinoid fish, Leuciscus leuciscus, of Europe, having a stout, fusiform body.
  2. any of several similar or related fishes of the U.S.
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Origin of dace

1400–50; late Middle English darce, darse < Old French dars < Late Latin darsus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dace

Historical Examples of dace

  • The dace is another fish which gives sport to the fly-fisherman.

    Amateur Fish Culture

    Charles Edward Walker

  • No; I have caught three trout with the fly, and I don't count the dace.

  • And the dace is deserving of respect because it will honestly take the fly.

  • So long as the dace were rising all the pike in the river could not tempt me to accompany them.

  • I should be the most ungrateful of anglers if I did not acknowledge my indebtedness to the dace.

British Dictionary definitions for dace

dace

noun plural dace or daces
  1. a European freshwater cyprinid fish, Leuciscus leuciscus, with a slender bluish-green body
  2. any of various similar fishes
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Word Origin for dace

C15: from Old French dars dart, probably referring to its swiftness
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

Word Origin and History for dace

n.

small, freshwater fish, early 15c., from Old French darz, nominative or plural of dart "dart" (see dart). So called for its movements. Another theory traces it to a Medieval Latin darsus, said to be of Gaulish origin.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper