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muskellunge

[muhs-kuh-luhnj]
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noun, plural mus·kel·lung·es, (especially collectively) mus·kel·lunge.
  1. a large game fish, Esox masquinongy, of the pike family, found in the lakes and rivers of eastern and middle western North America.
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Also maskalonge, maskinonge, muskallonge.

Origin of muskellunge

1780–90, Americanism; earlier muskinunge, masquenongez (French spelling), etc., < Canadian French maskinongé < Ojibwa ma·skino·ŝe·, ma·ŝkino·ŝe· (equivalent to Proto-Algonquian *mya·ŝi similar to, kind of + *kenweŝye·wa northern pike)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for muskellunge

Historical Examples

  • Once a twenty pound muskellunge had been caught, and bass were plentiful.

    A Son of the City

    Herman Gastrell Seely

British Dictionary definitions for muskellunge

muskellunge

maskalonge (ˈmæskəˌlɒndʒ) or maskanonge (ˈmæskəˌnɒndʒ)

noun plural -lunges, -longes, -nonges, -lunge, -longe or -nonge
  1. a large North American freshwater game fish, Esox masquinongy: family Esocidae (pikes, etc)Often (informal) shortened to: musky, muskie
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Word Origin

C18: maskinunga, of Algonquian origin; compare Ojibwa mashkinonge big pike
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 muskellunge

n.

"large North American pike," 1789, from Algonquian (Ojibwa) maashkinoozhe; the second element kinoozhe "pike;" the first either mac "great," maazh- "similar to," or maazh- "ugly." Altered by French folk etymology as masque allongé "long mask." Called muskie for short (1894).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper