pilchard
nounUK /ˈpɪl.tʃəd/ · US /ˈpɪl.t͡ʃɚd/
Etymology From earlier pilcher, adapted to the suffix -ard. Further etymology unknown. Compare Dutch pelser.
1
Any of various small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae.
- 1839, John Hookham Frere (translator), The Birds, lines 76–77, in Acharnians and two other plays He longs occasionally for human diet, His old Athenian fare: pilchards, for instance.