tilefish

[tahyl-fish]

noun, plural (especially collectively) tile·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) tile·fish·es.

a large, brilliantly colored food fish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, of deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

any of several related fishes of the family Branchiostegidae.

Origin of tilefish

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; tile + fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for tilefish

tilefish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

a large brightly coloured deep-sea percoid food fish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, of warm and tropical seas, esp the North American coast of the Atlantic: family Branchiostegidae

Word Origin for tilefish

C19: from New Latin -tilus, ending of genus name Lopholatilus; perhaps also from a resemblance between its colours and patterning and ornamental tiles

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