Toadfish
/ˈtoʊdˌfɪʃ/noun
Any of several bottom-dwelling fishes with a broad head and large mouth, especially in the family Batrachoididae.
Did you know?The name is a straightforward descriptive compound in English, but the “toad” half ultimately comes from Old English tādige/tāde, a Germanic word for the amphibian that has long carried a nasty, low-status edge in folklore.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
tādige
“toad”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*tainō / *tadō
“the ancestral Germanic word for a toad-like amphibian”
Middle English
ME
toode / tode
“toad”
Modern English
English
toad
“the amphibian; later used in compounds for toad-like things”
Modern English
English
toadfish
“a fish named for its toad-like appearance”