Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounprimitive eellike freshwater or anadromous cyclostome having round sucking mouth with a rasping tongue
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinlampetra“lamprey”
- Medieval Latinlampreda
- Old Frenchlampreie
- Middle Englishlaumprei
- Englishlamprey
From Middle English laumprei, from Old French lampreie (modern French lamproie), from Medieval Latin lampreda, possibly alteration of Late Latin lampetra (“lamprey”), whose further origin is unknown, though it is traditionally thought to be a combination of lambō (“to lick, lap”) + petra (“stone, rock”). Doublet of limpet, which derives from Latin.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan llampresa
- llampresaa fish
Chinese Mandarin 七鰓鰻 /七鳃鳗, 八目鰻 /八目鳗
- 七鰓鰻 /七鳃鳗 (qīsāimán)a fish
- 八目鰻 /八目鳗 (bāmùmán)a fish
Czech mihule
- mihulea fish
Danish lampret, niøje
- lampreta fish
- niøjea fish
- rundmunda fish
Dutch prik, lamprei
- prika fish
- lampreia fish
- negenooga fish
Esperanto petromizo
- petromizoa fish
Estonian silmlane
- silmlanea fish
Finnish nahkiainen
- nahkiainena fish
French lamproie
- lamproiea fish
German Neunauge
- Neunaugea fish
Greek λάμπραινα
- λάμπραινα (lámpraina)a fish
Hebrew צַמָּד
- צַמָּד (tzamád)a fish
Hungarian orsóhal, ingola
- orsóhala fish
- ingolaa fish
Irish péist an dá shúil déag
- péist an dá shúil déaga fish
Italian lampreda
- lampredaa fish
Japanese 八目鰻
- 八目鰻 (yatsumeunagi)a fish
Korean 칠성장어
- 칠성장어 (chilseongjang'eo)a fish
Latin lampetra, lamprēda
- lampetraa fish
- lamprēdaa fish
Latvian nēģis
- nēģisa fish
Lithuanian nėgė
- nėgėa fish
Māori korokoro, puhikorokoro
- korokoroa fish
- puhikorokoroa fish
- kanakanaa fish
- piharaua fish
- pihapiharaua fish
Norwegian Bokmål niøye, niauge
- niøyea fish
- niaugea fish
- lampretta fish
Polish minóg
- minóga fish
Portuguese lampreia
- lampreiaa fish
Romanian lampretă
- lampretăa fish
Russian мино́га
- мино́га (minóga)a fish
Spanish lamprea
- lampreaa fish
Swedish nejonöga
- nejonögaa fish
Turkish taşemen
- taşemena fish
Ukrainian мино́га
- мино́га (mynóha)a fish
Welsh llysywen bendoll, lamprai
- llysywen bendolla fish
- lampraia fish
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
lamprey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lamprey
“lamprey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lamprey. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lamprey,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lamprey.
Source: lamprey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.