Tunny
/ˈtʌni/noun
A large fast-swimming ocean fish, especially a tuna.
Did you know?Tunny is an old English name for tuna, ultimately traced through Latin and Greek back to a pre-Greek Mediterranean fish name, showing how sea trade preserved words like living relics.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰewh₂-
“to run, rush, flow”
Ancient Greek
Greek
θύννος (thýnnos)
“a tuna or tunny fish”
Latin
Latin
thunnus
“a tuna, tunny”
Old English
English
tunne
“a tunny fish”
Middle English
English
tunny
“a tunny, especially the large tuna fish”
Modern English
English
tunny
“a large tuna or similar fish”