opah en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈəʊpə/ (UK)
- /ˈoʊpə/ (US)
Etymology
From Igbo uba. Earliest attestation in English is the Royal Society’s 1752 Philosophical Transactions, 1749–50 (vol. 46, p. 519): “The black Prince, and his Cousin, from Anamaboe on the Coast of Guinea, and Mr. Creighton, formerly Governor of Capo Corso Castle, upon seeing this Fish immediately knew it, and said it was common on that Coast … The Natives call it Opah, and the English there call it the King-fish”
Meanings
-
Any of various large, colourful, deep-bodied pelagic fish of the family Lamprididae.
2003, Margaret M. Smith, Phillip C. Heemstra (editors), Smiths' Sea Fishes (Revision of 1977, James Leonard Brierley Smith, The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa), page 398, A member of the lower epipelagic community, the opah feeds on squid and fishes (including some benthic species) and is usually found well offshore.
For a long time, opah has been thought to be good luck so it was only given away, never sold. Opah is a nonschooling open-ocean fish so it's not caught in great quantities.
2006, Sharon Hamblin, Adventure Guide Maui, page 36:Opah is an extraordinary-looking ocean fish, with an almost perfectly round shape; a comparatively thin, flat profile; a silvery skin, and bright crimson fins.
2013, Roy Yamaguchi, John Harrisson, Roy's Fish and Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim, page 77:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| opahs | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| opah | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
Synonyms
Jerusalem haddock (fish of family Lampridae) · sunfish (fish of family Lampridae) · redfin ocean pan (fish of family Lampridae) · moonfish (fish of family Lampridae) · kingfish (fish of family Lampridae)
Translations (4)
pl strojnik (fish of the Lampridae family) · de Gotteslachs (fish of the Lampridae family) · bg опах (fish of the Lampridae family) · ru о́пах (fish of the Lampridae family)