Twaite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A silvery migratory fish of the herring family, found in European coastal waters and rivers, closely related to the shad
2. A species of shad native to Europe that swims up rivers to spawn and belongs to the herring family of fishes
3. An anadromous European fish in the herring family, known for travelling inland from the sea to breed in freshwater

Etymology: The twaite shad is a fish of the herring family, and its name has resisted every attempt to explain it. The earliest known record of the word dates from 1609, when it appears in English writing. Its origin remains uncertain, and nothing in the surviving evidence settles where the name came from or how it reached English.