Tunnies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of small fish found in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, popular for its culinary uses
2. Referring to certain species of tunas, known for their streamlined bodies and strength
3. Often used in sports fishing and commercial fishing for their value and flavor

Etymology: "Tunnies" is the plural of "tunny", a large ocean fish, and the word's ancestry runs back to ancient Greece. The Greek "thúnnos" named the tuna, and the Romans borrowed it as "thunnus". From there the word passed into Old Occitan as "ton" and into Middle French as "thon", and English eventually took it with a suffix, "-y", added on the French side. The chain of borrowings explains the odd spelling. English "tunny" is a late, Frenchified route to the same fish that the Greeks knew, so the fish's name has been carried across the Mediterranean and through several languages before reaching English speakers.

Synonyms: tunnel fish, bluefish