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• sturgeon
  sturgeon

  noun

  any of various large fishes of the family Acipenseridae, inhabiting fresh and salt waters in the North Temperate Zone, valued for their flesh and as a source of caviar and isinglass: Acipenser brevirostrum shortnose sturgeon, of the Atlantic coast, is a vulnerable species.
• Sturgeon
  Sturgeon

  noun

  Theodore (Hamilton), 1918–85, U.S. science-fiction writer.

sturgeon

¹ American  

[stur-juhn] / ˈstɜr dʒən /

noun

sturgeons plural

1. any of various large fishes of the family Acipenseridae, inhabiting fresh and salt waters in the North Temperate Zone, valued for their flesh and as a source of caviar and isinglass: Acipenser brevirostrum shortnose sturgeon, of the Atlantic coast, is a vulnerable species.

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Sturgeon ² American  

[stur-juhn] / ˈstɜr dʒən /

noun

1. Theodore (Hamilton), 1918–85, U.S. science-fiction writer.

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sturgeon British  

/ ˈstɜːdʒən /

noun

1. any primitive bony fish of the family Acipenseridae, of temperate waters of the N hemisphere, having an elongated snout and rows of spines along the body: valued as a source of caviar and isinglass

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• sturgeon
  plural
• sturgeons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sturgeon

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French esturgeon, from Germanic; compare Old English styria, Old High German sturio ( German Stör ), Old Norse styrja

Example Sentences

Various types of native fish have suffered declines, including steelhead trout, white sturgeon and longfin smelt.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

Dozens of Wisconsinites volunteer each spring to keep watch against poachers as the sturgeon make their way upriver to spawn; thousands more come to watch.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Native fish that are increasingly threatened include the finger-sized Delta smelt and white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America, which can reach more than 10 feet long.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026

Island Creek Oysters offers quite the selection, including kaluga, white sturgeon, Siberian, and osetra varieties.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2025

Out in the harbor a sturgeon makes a single leap like a silver horse and then is gone.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr