The story
- Middle English · inherited fromhalibut
- English todayhalibut
From Middle English halibut, equivalent to holy + butt (“flatfish”), since the fish was often eaten on holy days. Cognate with Dutch heilbot, German Heiligbutt, Heilbutt, Heilbutte, Danish helleflynder, Swedish helgeflundra, and Norwegian Nynorsk hellefisk.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.