Meanings
plural blacktails
- A fish: the ruffe or pope (Gymnocephalus cernua)
[…] the blacke taile Perch [which ſome take for a Ruffe, others for a ſea Breame:]
1601, Pliny the Elder, translated by Philemon Holland, The Historie of the World, London: A. Islip, published 1634, page 4522 more examples
Melarunus, the Black-tail, a kind of Perch of Ruff, a Fiſh; it alſo taken for a Sea-bream: […]
1706, Edward Phillips, compiler, J[ohn] K[ersey the younger], “Melarunus”, in The New World of Words: Or, Universal English Dictionary. […], 6th edition, London: […] J. Phillips, […]; N. Rhodes, […]; and J. Taylor, […], →OCLCA perch-like fish of European waters, the blacktail, striped or stone perch, is also known as a ruff or ruffe.
1912, Harry Thurston Peck, The Standard Illustrated Book of Facts, New York, N.Y.: Syndicate Publishing Company, page 764 - A black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), of California and Oregon.
- A mule deer, of the Rocky Mountains.
- Certain fish with black tails:
- NamibiaSouth AfricaDiplodus capensis, Diplodus sargus
- JamaicaHaemulon carbonarium
Synonyms & antonyms
nounmule deer of western Rocky Mountains
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
blacktail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blacktail
“blacktail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blacktail. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blacktail,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blacktail.
Source: blacktail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.