shellfish
noun/ˈʃɛl.fɪʃ/ · [ʃɛɫˑfɪʃ]
Etymology Inherited from Middle English schellefyssch, from Old English sċielfisċ. Equivalent to shell + fish.
1
A fisheries and colloquial term for an aquatic invertebrate having an inner or outer shell, such as a mollusc or crustacean, especially when edible.
2
A culinary and nutritional term for several groups of non-piscine, non-tetrapod, aquatic animals that are used as a food source. The term often exclusively refers to edible aquatic crustaceans, bivalve mollusks and cephalopod mollusks; but sometimes echinoderms may be included as well.
- Derived terms
- shellfisher, shellfishery, shellfishing
- Hypernyms
- seafood
- Coordinate terms
- cartilaginous fish, finned fish, finfish, fish