sardine
English · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
sardine¹
- /sɑːˈdiːn/ UK
- /sɑɹˈdin/ US
Rhymes with -iːn
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French sardine (cognate with Spanish sardina, Italian sardina), Latin sardīna; from Ancient Greek σαρδίνη (sardínē).
noun sardines
-
Any one of several species of small herring which are commonly preserved in olive oil or in tins for food, especially the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus, syn. Clupea pilchardus). The American sardines of the Atlantic coast are mostly the young of the Atlantic herring and of the menhaden, and many canned sardines in America are sprats.
Near-synonym: pilchard (broad sense)
Similar: pilchard
- Someone packed or crammed into a small space. They watched bemused as countless sardines disgorged from a railway car that was never designed to hold so many passengers.
verb sardines · sardining · sardined
- To fish for sardines. No one on Monhegan says they saw them, but a man sardining says he saw it headed there, or at least some boat with people atop it.
- to pack or cram together tightly. Six-foot- four McMichael (a past master at the art of sardining) not only crammed enough clothes for the trip into the mighty midget, but carried a full set of golf clubs and a banjo, as well!
sardine²
- /sɑːˈdiːn/ UK
- /sɑɹˈdin/ US
Rhymes with -iːn
Where it comes from
Pliny states that its name was ultimately derived from Sardis, in Lydia, where the sard was first discovered; but probably ultimately derived from Persian sered ("yellowish-red").
noun sardines
- Carnelian.
- Dark-brown sard.
adjective more sardine · most sardine
- Characteristic of a sardius. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Sardine³
Where it comes from
From the way protesters are tightly packed into public spaces, analogous to the way sardines are packed into cans.
noun Sardines
- A member of the Italian grassroots political movement organized to protest against the right-wing surge in the country and the political rhetoric of Matteo Salvini. A new grassroots movement called ‘sardines’ is fighting against Italy's rightwing strongman Matteo Salvini across the nation after a spectacular launch in Bologna last week.
Translations
Every language
noun fish
| Español | sardina |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 정어리 jeong'eori |
| 日本語 | 鰯 iwashi, イワシ iwashi, マイワシ maiwashi, サーディン sādin |
| 中文 | 沙丁 shādīng, 沙丁魚 /沙丁鱼 shādīngyú, 鰮 /鳁/鰛 /鳁 wēn, 鰮魚 /鳁鱼, 鰮鱼 wēnyú |
| हिन्दी | सार्डीन sārḍīn |
| Kiswahili | sardini |
| Português | sardinha |
| Français | sardine |
| Deutsch | Sardine |
| Italiano | sardina, sarda, sardella |
| Ελληνικά | σαρδέλα sardéla |
| Română | sardină |
| Русский | сарди́на sardína, иваси́ ivasí |
| Tiếng Việt | cá mòi |
| العربية | صَحْنَاة ṣaḥnāh, صِحْنَاة ṣiḥnāh, سَرْدِين sardīn |
| עברית | סלתנית \ סַלְתָּנִית saltanít, סֻלְתָּנִית sultanít |
Talk about this word "sardine." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sardine. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sardine. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sardine "sardine." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sardine.Cite this
@misc{sardine_2026,
title = {sardine},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sardine},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
