alewife

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or in coastal streams
noun shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus

From ale + wife.

"How'd on, fool," said the alewife to the sergeant. — The Yeoman Adventurer, George W. Gough
Practically no distinction is made between full-grown herring and alewives of the same size. — Commercial Geography: A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw) Redway
In his System of Nature, A.D. 1776, Linnæus declares, “I hereby separate the whales from the fish.” But of my own knowledge, I know that down to the year 1850, sharks and shad, alewives and herring, against Linnæus’s express edict, were still found dividing the possession of the same seas with the Leviathan. — Moby Dick; Or, The Whale, Herman Melville

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