mackerel
[ mak-er-uhl, mak-ruhl ]
/ Ë?mæk É™r É™l, Ë?mæk rÉ™l /
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noun, plural (especially collectively) mack·er·el, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) mack·er·els.
a food fish, Scomber scombrus, of the North Atlantic, having wavy cross markings on the back.
any of various similar fishes, as the Atka mackerel.
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Origin of mackerel
1250–1300; Middle English <Old French, perhaps same word as Middle French maquerel pimp <Middle Dutch makelare broker (by metathesis), equivalent to makel(en) to bring together + -are-er1
Words nearby mackerel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use mackerel in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for mackerel
mackerel
/ (Ë?mækrÉ™l) /
noun plural -rel or -rels
a spiny-finned food fish, Scomber scombrus, occurring in northern coastal regions of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean: family Scombridae. It has a deeply forked tail and a greenish-blue body marked with wavy dark bands on the backCompare Spanish mackerel (def. 1)
any of various other fishes of the family Scombridae, such as Scomber colias (Spanish mackerel) and S. japonicus (Pacific mackerel)
See horse mackerel
Word Origin for mackerel
C13: from Anglo-French, from Old French maquerel, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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