Etymology

wrasse

W4R1A1S1S1E1

Today it means: Any one of numerous edible, marine, spiny-finned fishes of the family Labridae, of which several species are found in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Many of the species are brightly colored. Full definition →

First used mid-17th c.Cornish wragh
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The story

  1. Cornish · borrowed fromwragh“old woman, hag; wrasse”
  2. English todaywrasse

Plural of dialectal (Cornwall) wrah, wraugh, wrath, from Cornish wragh (“old woman, hag; wrasse”), lenited form of gwragh.

First known use, by meaning

  • from mid-17th c. Any one of numerous edible, marine, spiny-finned fishes of the family Labridae, of which several species are found in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Many of the species are brightly colored.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.