Meanings
plural daces
- A shoal-forming fish of species Leuciscus leuciscus, common to swift rivers in England and Wales and in Europe.
Somewhere near at hand, though out of sight, there was a clear, slow-moving stream where dace were swimming in the pools under the willow trees.
1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part One, Chapter 3 - USAny of various related small fish of the family Cyprinidae that live in freshwater and are native to North America.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsmall European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchdarz
- Middle Englishdarse
- Englishdace
Old variant of earlier darse, from Late Middle English darse (also as dace already), from Old French darz, oblique plural form of dart (“spear; javelin”). For a similar loss of r, compare bass, while for the pronunciation with /eɪ/, see scarce.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian клен
- клен (klen)Leuciscus leuciscus
Czech jelec
- jelecLeuciscus leuciscus
Dutch serpeling
- serpelingLeuciscus leuciscus
Finnish seipi
- seipiLeuciscus leuciscus
French vandoise, vandoise commune
- vandoiseLeuciscus leuciscus
- vandoise communeLeuciscus leuciscus
German Hasel
- HaselLeuciscus leuciscus
Greek κέφαλος, ασπρόψαρο
- κέφαλος (kéfalos)Leuciscus leuciscus
- ασπρόψαρο (asprópsaro)Leuciscus leuciscus
Hungarian nyúldomolykó
- nyúldomolykóLeuciscus leuciscus
Polish jelec
- jelecLeuciscus leuciscus
Portuguese pardelha
- pardelhaLeuciscus leuciscus
Russian еле́ц, плотва́
- еле́ц (jeléc)Leuciscus leuciscus
- плотва́ (plotvá)Any of various related small fish of the family Cyprinidae
Spanish albur, leucisco
- alburLeuciscus leuciscus
- leuciscoLeuciscus leuciscus
Swedish stäm
- stämLeuciscus leuciscus
Yiddish ווײַספֿיש
- ווײַספֿיש (vaysfish)Leuciscus leuciscus
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dace
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dace. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dace
“dace.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dace. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dace,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dace.
Source: dace on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.