Alewife Definition

ālwīf

alewives

noun

alewives

A fish (Alosa pseudoharengus) of North American Atlantic waters and some inland lakes, which swims up rivers to spawn.

American Heritage

A woman who keeps an alehouse.

Webster's New World

A NW Atlantic clupeid fish (Alosa pseudoharengus) that swims up rivers to spawn in the spring: used for food and in fertilizers.

Webster's New World

(archaic) A woman who keeps an alehouse.

Wiktionary

A North American fish, Clupea vernalis, of the herring family.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Alewife

Singular:

alewife

Plural:

alewives

Probably alteration (influenced by alewife) of obsolete allowes a type of shad from French alose shad from Old French from Late Latin alausa

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Possibly from allowes (“a type of shad”), from French alose (“shad”), from Old French, from Late Latin alausa, influenced by Etymology 1 due to large belly of the fish.

From Wiktionary
Unknown. Possibly from aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture of maize in America, “Phil Trans.” No. 142, p. 1065, and Baddam’s “Memoirs,” vol. ii. p. 131.

From Wiktionary
ale + wife

From Wiktionary

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