tilapia

American  

[tuh-lah-pee-uh, -lay-] / təˈlɑ pi ə, -ˈleɪ- /

noun

• tilapias
  plural

1. any freshwater cichlid of the genus Tilapia, of African waters: an important food fish.

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tilapia British  

/ tɪˈlæpɪə, -ˈleɪ- /

noun

1. any mouthbrooding cichlid fish of the African freshwater genus Tilapia: used as food fishes

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tilapias
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tilapia

First recorded in 1845–50; New Latin; further origin uncertain

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tilapia tilapias

Ramilah starts at the crack of dawn with housework, taking care of the cows and feeding the family's stock of tilapia fish.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

A convenience store in the courthouse lobby has limited hot-food options, with offerings in recent weeks including a buffalo-chicken wrap and tilapia oreganata.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Even inland species, such as tilapia or pond-based farmed shrimp, she said, could be affected by El Niño indirectly through a breakdown in fish meal supplies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

That makes you a salmon rather than a tilapia, only you no longer have to swim upstream.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 12, 2026

So for months now, the government has encouraged people to catch blackchin tilapia, which have found their way in rivers and swamps.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2024

With the exception of the snapper, each fish had at least one of us guessing it was tilapia; the actual tilapias didn’t garner any more correct guesses than the non-tilapias.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2016

Rice grows in flooded paddies that are shared with tilapias -- African fish -- which eat algae and . water ferns and in turn fertilize the water with their waste.

From Time Magazine Archive

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