tunny

American  

[tuhn-ee] / ˈtʌn i /

noun

Chiefly British.

• tunny,
  plural
• tunnies
  plural

1. tuna.

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tunny British  

/ ˈtʌnɪ /

noun

1. another name for tuna 1

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tunnies
  plural
• tunny
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tunny

1520–30; by apocope < Medieval Latin tunnīna false tunny, noun use of feminine of tunnīnus like a tunny, equivalent to tunn ( us ) tunny (variant of Latin thynnus < Greek thýnnos ) + -īnus -ine ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tunny tunnies

In the interwar period, Scarborough and Whitby became world-famous destinations for game fishing because of the size of the tuna - nicknamed "tunny".

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Said he: "It should have been tunny fish, which we were out to get this morning, but we caught 15 codfish instead."

From Time Magazine Archive

Merchant ships plied to and fro on the blue oceans, and fishermen hauled in brimming nets of cod and tunny, bass and mullet; the forests ran with game, and no children went hungry.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

Mnesimachus, in his Horsebreeder, classes together in one line— The turbot, tunny, tench, elacatene.

From The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athen?us by Athen?us

There were fine dried fruits from the Levant, tunny and other fish from the Mediterranean; and the wines, though inferior to those of France, were from foreign vineyards.

From Henry of Guise; (Vol. III of 3) or, The States of Blois by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

There was little weed, but yesterday and to-day the sea appeared to be full of tunnies.

From The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 by Julius E. Olson

Prodicus engages him and has a conference with him on the profound question of "whether the tunnies or the mullets are better to-day, or will there be fresh eels?"

From A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life by William Stearns Davis

And in the end, he may find his honorarium for a day’s hard pleading to be a leg of pork, a jar of tunnies, or a few flasks of cheap wine.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill

The report runs that in some places, when the edict was published, the Christians did not wait for a summons, but swept up to the temples to sacrifice, like a shoal of tunnies.

From Callista : a Tale of the Third Century by John Henry Newman

Then to the jealous god with lifted hand     I'll pour libation from a rosy cup,     And leap, and dive, and see the tunnies swim.

From A Little Book of Old Time Verse Old Fashioned Flowers by Various