Bombil

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small edible fish found in Indian Ocean waters, often dried and salted and sold under the name Bombay duck
2. An Indian Ocean fish of the lizardfish family, prized as food and frequently preserved by drying in the sun
3. A slender edible sea fish native to the waters off western India, commonly eaten dried and known as Bombay duck

Etymology: Bombil is the name of a fish, the Bombay duck, and its story begins on the Indian subcontinent rather than in Europe. The English word was borrowed from Marathi, the language of the region around Mumbai (formerly Bombay), where the fish is a staple. The Marathi form, बोंबील (bombīl), is the name English speakers adopted, so the fish's local name has travelled into English with little change. Readers who know the nickname "Bombay duck" may be surprised that the fish is not a bird at all. The English nickname is a playful alteration of the Marathi name, and it is the fish itself, not the nickname, that carries the original word into English. The name is a plain loanword with no older European ancestry to trace.