Meanings
plural merlings
- The fish Merlangius merlangus, endemic to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, western Baltic Sea and Black Sea.
1 more example
1995, Maryanne Kowaleski, footnote, Local Markets and Regional Trade in Medieval Exeter, page 310, The types were cod, conger eel, common eel, dried fish (most probably cod and hake), hake, herring, lamprey, ling, mackerel, merling (whiting), mulwell, pike, pilchard, pollack, porpoise, ray, salmon, stockfish (probably cod), sturgeon, and whiting; they arrived fresh, dried, salted, or smoked.
Synonyms: English whiting, European whiting
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe fish Merlangius merlangus, endemic to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, western Baltic Sea and Black Sea.
Origin
- Old Frenchmerlenc
- Middle Englishmerlynge
- Englishmerling
From Middle English merlynge, from Old French merlenc, from Latin merula.
More words from Middle English, Old French
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Anagrams
Cite this entry
merling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merling
“merling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merling. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “merling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merling.
Source: merling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.