Hackleback
/ˈhækəlbæk/noun
A North American freshwater sturgeon, especially the shovelnose sturgeon, named for the bony scutes along its back.
Did you know?Its “hackle” refers to a ruff or row of projecting feathers, a visual metaphor later applied to the sturgeon’s hard-backed scutes—not an occult name, despite its spell-like sound.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hakulō
“A tool or implement with projecting teeth; the probable ancestral source of hackle”
Old English
Old English
hacele
“A hackle or instrument used to comb and separate fibers such as flax”
Middle English
Middle English
hakel
“A hackle; also a comb-like or feathered tuft”
Old English
Old English
bæc
“The back or rear side of the body”
Middle English
Middle English
bak
“The back; the rear or upper surface”
19th Century
American English
hackleback
“A regional name for a sturgeon with a ridged back covered in bony plates”
Modern English
English
hackleback
“The shovelnose sturgeon or, regionally, a related North American sturgeon”