gourami

[ goo-rah-mee ]

noun,plural (especially collectively) gou·ra·mi, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) gou·ra·mis.
  1. a large, air-breathing, nest-building, freshwater Asiatic fish, Osphronemus goramy, used for food.

  2. any of several small, air-breathing, nest-building Asiatic fishes of the genera Trichogaster, Colisa, and Trichopsis, often kept in aquariums.

Origin of gourami

1
1875–80; <Malay (Java dial.) gurami<Javanese graméh

Words Nearby gourami

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gourami in a sentence

  • The surgeon called it the gourami, and said that some successful attempts had been made to introduce the fish in American waters.

    Four Young Explorers | Oliver Optic
  • Achang called the fish the gourami, or something like that; but beyond this nothing was known about him.

    Four Young Explorers | Oliver Optic
  • A fish of Java, the gourami (Osphronemus olfax), establishes an ovoid nest with the leaves of aquatic plants woven together.

    The Industries of Animals | Frdric Houssay

British Dictionary definitions for gourami

gourami

/ (ˈɡʊərəmɪ) /


nounplural -mi or -mis
  1. a large SE Asian labyrinth fish, Osphronemus goramy, used for food and (when young) as an aquarium fish

  2. any of various other labyrinth fishes, such as Helostoma temmincki (kissing gourami), many of which are brightly coloured and popular aquarium fishes

Origin of gourami

1
from Malay gurami

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