280 Names of Animals [FOURTH WEEK 



schools or masses or armies. In the very high German 

 heri meant an army or host; hence our word harry and, 

 with a suffix, herring. 



Hake in Norwegian means hook, and the term hake 

 or hook-fish was given because of the hooked character of 

 the under-jaw. Mackerel comes from macarellus and orig- 

 inally the Latin macula spotted, from the dark spots on 

 the body. Roach and ray both come from the Latin 

 raria, applied then as in the latter case now to bottom- 

 living sharks. 



Flounder comes from the verb, which in turn is derived 

 from flounce, a word which is lost in antiquity. Tarpon 

 (and the form tarpum) may be an Indian word; while there 

 is no doubt as to grouper coming from garrupa, a native 

 Mexican name. Chubb (a form of cub) meant a chunky 

 mass or lump, referring to the body of the fish. Shad is 

 lost in sceadda, Anglo-Saxon for the same fish. 



Lamprey and halibut both have histories, which, at 

 first glance, we would never suspect, although the forms 

 have changed but little. The former have a habit of 

 fastening themselves for hours to stones and rocks, by 

 means of their strong, sucking mouths. So the Latin form 

 of the word lampetra, or literally lick-rock, is very appro- 

 priate. Halibut is equally so. But or bot in several lan- 

 guages means a certain flounder-like fish, and in olden times 

 this fish was eaten only on holidays (i.e., holy days). 

 Hence the combination halibut means really holy-flounder. 



The meaning of these words and many others are worth 

 knowing, and it is well to be able to answer with other 

 than ignorance the question "What's in a name?" 



