mackerel
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mackerel¹
- /ˈmæk(ə)ɹəl/ Australia, US, UK
- /ˈmak(ə)ɹəl/ British, Midlands, Northern England
- /ˈmak(ə)ɾəl/ Scotland, Wales
- /ˈmɛk(ə)ɹəl/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -ækɹəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English mackerell, macrell, macrelle, makarell, makerel, makerell, makerelle, makrel, makrell, makyrelle, from Old French maquerel. Further origin unknown.
noun mackerel · mackerels
- Certain smaller edible fish, principally true mackerel and Spanish mackerel in family Scombridae, often speckled,
- Typically Scomber scombrus in the British isles. […] you may buy land now as cheap as stinking mackerel.
- A true mackerel, any fish of tribe Scombrini (Scomber spp., Rastrelliger spp.)
- Certain other similar small fish in families Carangidae, Gempylidae, and Hexagrammidae.
- A regular pattern, similar to fish scales, of undulating small clouds with sky visible between them. a mackerel sky
mackerel²
- /ˈmæk(ə)ɹəl/ Australia, US, UK
- /ˈmak(ə)ɹəl/ British, Midlands, Northern England
- /ˈmak(ə)ɾəl/ Scotland, Wales
- /ˈmɛk(ə)ɹəl/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -ækɹəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English makerel, maquerel, from Old French maquerel, from Middle Dutch makelare, makelaer (“broker”) (> makelaar (“broker, peddler”)). See also French maquereau.
noun mackerels
- A pimp; also, a bawd. 1483, William Caxton, Magnus Cato, quoted in James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs and Ancient Customs, from the Fourteenth Century, vol. 2, publ. by John Russell Smith (1847), page 536. […] nyghe his hows dwellyd a maquerel or ba
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: herring, kingfish, fish, blood, pimp, black, peking, king mackerel, spanish mackerel, mackerel pike, chub mackerel, jack mackerel, scombroid, horse mackerel, scomberoid, mackereler
Translations
Every language
noun edible fish
| Español | caballa |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 고등어 godeung'eo |
| 日本語 | 鯖 saba, サバ saba |
| 中文 | 鯖魚 /鲭鱼 qīngyú |
| Português | cavala |
| Français | maquereau |
| Deutsch | Makrele |
| Italiano | sgombro, sgombero |
| Ελληνικά | σκουμπρί skoumprí |
| Română | macrou |
| Русский | ску́мбрия skúmbrija, макре́ль makrélʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | cá thu |
| العربية | إِسْقُمَرِيّ ʔisqumariyy, مَاكْرِيل mākrīl |
| עברית | מקרל makarél |
Talk about this word "mackerel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mackerel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mackerel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mackerel "mackerel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mackerel.Cite this
@misc{mackerel_2026,
title = {mackerel},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mackerel},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
