Leerfish

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A predatory marine game fish of the carangid family, found in the warm coastal waters of southern Africa and prized by anglers
2. A South African sea fish related to the jacks, valued by sport fishermen for its strength and fighting spirit when hooked
3. A large silvery coastal fish native to southern African seas, commonly pursued by anglers seeking a hard-fighting catch

Etymology: Leerfish is a South African word for the leervis, a fish of the kingfish family, and the English name is a partial translation of the Afrikaans. The Afrikaans "leervis" joins "leer", meaning leather, with "vis", meaning fish. The fish's skin is smooth and tough rather than scaled, which is why Afrikaans speakers called it the leather fish. English kept the first half as a literal rendering and the second half as the familiar "fish". The word is therefore a hybrid: the "leer" element is borrowed from Afrikaans, while "fish" is native English. Because only part of the Afrikaans name was carried across, the English form reads as a compound of two English words, even though its first element comes from another language. Nothing about the word is older than the South African usage it describes.