lutefish

L1U1T1E1F4I1S1H4

noun

Any of a family of characiform fish (Citharinidae), including the genera Citharidium (one species), Citharinops (one species), and Citharinus (6 species).

Scrabble 14

Meanings

lutefish1

nounlutefish (plural lutefish or lutefishes)

plural lutefishes

  1. Any of a family of characiform fish (Citharinidae), including the genera Citharidium (one species), Citharinops (one species), and Citharinus (6 species).

    Citharinids (commonly known as lutefishes), although not as morphologically and taxonomically diverse as distichodontids, are distributed throughout much of tropical Africa, and constitute an important component of the artisanal fisheries in the region [40].

    2013 October, Jairo Arroyave, John S.S. Denton, Melanie L.J. Stiassny, “Are characiform fishes Gondwanan in origin? Insights from a time-scaled molecular phylogeny of the Citharinoidei (Ostariophysi: Characiformes)”, in PLOS One
    1 more example

    The Citharinidae is one of the less species-rich families in Africa with only eight species belonging to three genera. Citharinids, commonly known as lutefish, are distributed throughout much of tropical Africa and constitute an important part of artisanal fishing catches.

    2017 January, Iva Přikrylová, Andrew P. Shinn, Giuseppe Paladini, “Description of Citharodactylus gagei n. gen. et n. sp. (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) from the moon fish, Citharinus citharus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire), from Lake Turkana”, in Parasitology research, volume 116, number 1

lutefish2

nounlutefish (countable and uncountable, plural lutefish or lutefishes)

plural lutefishes

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of lutefisk.

Origin

lutefish · noun

Partial calque of Norwegian lutefisk; see English lutefisk for more.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

lutefish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lutefish

MLA

“lutefish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lutefish. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lutefish,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lutefish.

Source: lutefish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.