muskellunge

[muhs-kuh-luhnj]

noun, plural mus·kel·lung·es, (especially collectively) mus·kel·lunge.

a large game fish, Esox masquinongy, of the pike family, found in the lakes and rivers of eastern and middle western North America.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for muskellunge

Historical Examples of muskellunge

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

a large North American freshwater game fish, Esox masquinongy: family Esocidae (pikes, etc)Often (informal) shortened to: musky, muskie

Word Origin for muskellunge

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

"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).