Meanings
plural anchovies
- Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in sixteen genera, those of the genus Engraulis being widely sold as food.
[T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust.
1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 40
Origin
- Basqueantxu
- Ancient Greekἀφύη
- Latinaphyē
- Corsicananchjuva
- Liguriananciôa
- Spanishanchoa
- Englishanchovy
From Spanish anchoa, from Genoese Ligurian anciôa or related Corsican anchjuva, anciua. The term's ultimate origin is unclear; some suggest it may have derived from an unattested Vulgar Latin term *apiuva, from Latin aphyē, apua, from Ancient Greek ἀφύη (aphúē) (which may be formed like Sanskrit अभ्व (ábhva-, “monster”)); others suggest it comes from Basque antxu, anchu (“dried fish”), from anchuva (“dry”), if that Basque term is not itself derived from Latin via some intermediary. None of these hypotheses is satisfactory because of the phonetic irregularities.
More words from Spanish, Ligurian, Corsican
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ansjovis
- ansjovissmall saltwater fish
Arabic أَنْشُوفة, بَلَم
- أَنْشُوفة (ʔanšūfa)small saltwater fish
- بَلَم (balam)small saltwater fish
- أَنْشُوقَة (ʔanšūqa)small saltwater fish
Basque antxoa, bokarta
- antxoasmall saltwater fish
- bokartasmall saltwater fish
Bulgarian аншоа́, ха́мсия
- аншоа́ (anšoá)small saltwater fish
- ха́мсия (hámsija)small saltwater fish
Catalan seitó, anxova
- seitósmall saltwater fish
- anxovasmall saltwater fish
Chinese Cantonese 江魚仔 /江鱼仔
- 江魚仔 /江鱼仔 (gong¹ jyu⁴ zai²)small saltwater fish
Chinese Mandarin 鳳尾魚 /凤尾鱼, 鯷 /鳀
- 鳳尾魚 /凤尾鱼 (fèngwěiyú)small saltwater fish
- 鯷 /鳀 (tí)small saltwater fish
Czech ančovička, sardel
- ančovičkasmall saltwater fish
- sardelsmall saltwater fish
Danish ansjos
- ansjossmall saltwater fish
Dutch ansjovis
- ansjovissmall saltwater fish
Esperanto sardelo, anĉovo
- sardelosmall saltwater fish
- anĉovosmall saltwater fish
Estonian anšoovis
- anšoovissmall saltwater fish
Finnish sardelli, anjovis
- sardellismall saltwater fish
- anjovissmall saltwater fish
French anchois
- anchoissmall saltwater fish
German Sardelle
- Sardellesmall saltwater fish
Greek γαύρος
- γαύρος (gávros)small saltwater fish
Hebrew אַנְשׁוֹבִי, עַפְיָן
- אַנְשׁוֹבִי (anshóvi)small saltwater fish
- עַפְיָן ('afyán)small saltwater fish
Hungarian szardella, ajóka
- szardellasmall saltwater fish
- ajókasmall saltwater fish
Icelandic ansjósa
- ansjósasmall saltwater fish
Indonesian bilis
- bilissmall saltwater fish
Irish ainseabhaí
- ainseabhaísmall saltwater fish
Italian alice, acciuga
- alicesmall saltwater fish
- acciugasmall saltwater fish
Japanese 片口鰯, カタクチイワシ
- 片口鰯small saltwater fish
- カタクチイワシ (katakuchi-iwashi)small saltwater fish
- アンチョビ (anchobi)small saltwater fish
- アンチョビー (anchobī)small saltwater fish
Korean 멸치
- 멸치 (myeolchi)small saltwater fish
Latvian anšovs
- anšovssmall saltwater fish
Lithuanian ančiuvis
- ančiuvissmall saltwater fish
Malay bilis
- bilissmall saltwater fish
Māori kokowhāwhā, korowhāwhā
- kokowhāwhāsmall saltwater fish
- korowhāwhāsmall saltwater fish
Norwegian ansjos
- ansjossmall saltwater fish
Persian آنچوی, آنچووی
- آنچوی (ânčovi)small saltwater fish
- آنچووی (ânčovi)small saltwater fish
Polish sardela, anchois
- sardelasmall saltwater fish
- anchoissmall saltwater fish
Portuguese anchova, enchova
- anchovasmall saltwater fish
- enchovasmall saltwater fish
Romanian sardele, hamsie
- sardelesmall saltwater fish
- hamsiesmall saltwater fish
- anșoasmall saltwater fish
Russian анчо́ус, хамса́
- анчо́ус (ančóus)small saltwater fish
- хамса́ (xamsá)small saltwater fish
Spanish anchoa, boquerón
- anchoasmall saltwater fish
- boquerónsmall saltwater fish
- bocartesmall saltwater fish
- aladroquesmall saltwater fish
Swedish sardell
- sardellsmall saltwater fish
Tagalog dilis, dulis
- dilissmall saltwater fish
- dulissmall saltwater fish
- balawbalawsmall saltwater fish
Tamil நெத்திலி, நெய்த்தோலி
- நெத்திலி (nettili)small saltwater fish
- நெய்த்தோலி (neyttōli)small saltwater fish
- கொடுந்தலைப்பொருவா (koṭuntalaipporuvā)small saltwater fish
Turkish hamsi
- hamsismall saltwater fish
Vietnamese cá cơm, cá trổng
- cá cơmsmall saltwater fish
- cá trổngsmall saltwater fish
Welsh brwyniad
- brwyniadsmall saltwater fish
Yiddish אַנטשאָווי
- אַנטשאָווי (antshovi)small saltwater fish
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with anchovy
All rhymes →Cite this entry
anchovy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anchovy
“anchovy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anchovy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anchovy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anchovy.
Source: anchovy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.