Meanings
nounshellfish (countable and uncountable, plural shellfish or shellfishes)
plural shellfishes
- countableuncountableA fisheries and colloquial term for an aquatic invertebrate having an inner or outer shell, such as a mollusc or crustacean, especially when edible.
- countableuncountableA culinary and nutritional term for several groups of non-piscine, non-tetrapod, aquatic animals that are used as a food source. The term often exclusively refers to edible aquatic crustaceans, bivalve mollusks and cephalopod mollusks; but sometimes echinoderms may be included as well.
Synonyms & antonyms
Broader
nouninvertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishsċielfisċ
- Middle Englishschellefyssch
- Englishshellfish
Inherited from Middle English schellefyssch, from Old English sċielfisċ. Equivalent to shell + fish.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans skulpdier
- skulpdieraquatic food that has a shell
Arabic مَحَار
- مَحَار (maḥār)aquatic food that has a shell
Bengali শেলফিশ
- শেলফিশ (śelphiś)aquatic food that has a shell
Catalan marisc
- mariscaquatic food that has a shell
Chinese Mandarin 貝類 /贝类
- 貝類 /贝类 (bèilèi)aquatic food that has a shell
Danish skaldyr
- skaldyraquatic food that has a shell
Dutch schelpdier
- schelpdieraquatic food that has a shell
Esperanto marisko, konkulo
- mariskoaquatic food that has a shell
- konkuloaquatic food that has a shell
Finnish äyriäinen, simpukka
- äyriäinenaquatic food that has a shell
- simpukkaaquatic food that has a shell
- osteriaquatic food that has a shell
- mereneläväaquatic food that has a shell
French coquillage, fruits de mer
- coquillageaquatic food that has a shell
- fruits de meraquatic food that has a shell
German Schalentier, Krustentier
- Schalentieraquatic food that has a shell
- Krustentieraquatic food that has a shell
Greek οστρακόδερμο
- οστρακόδερμο (ostrakódermo)aquatic food that has a shell
Hindi कस्तूरा
- कस्तूरा (kastūrā)aquatic food that has a shell
Hungarian kagyló
- kagylóaquatic food that has a shell
Icelandic skelfiskur
- skelfiskuraquatic food that has a shell
Indonesian kerang
- kerangaquatic food that has a shell
Irish sliogán
- sliogánaquatic food that has a shell
Italian crostaceo, mollusco
- crostaceoaquatic food that has a shell
- molluscoaquatic food that has a shell
Japanese 貝, 甲殻類
- 貝 (kai)aquatic food that has a shell
- 甲殻類 (kōkakurui)aquatic food that has a shell
Korean 조개
- 조개 (jogae)aquatic food that has a shell
Latin concha
- conchaaquatic food that has a shell
Malay kerang, kerang-kerangan
- kerangaquatic food that has a shell
- kerang-keranganaquatic food that has a shell
Norwegian Bokmål skalldyr
- skalldyraquatic food that has a shell
Persian صدفماهی
- صدفماهی (sadaf-mâhi)aquatic food that has a shell
Polish skorupiak
- skorupiakaquatic food that has a shell
Portuguese marisco
- mariscoaquatic food that has a shell
Russian моллю́ск, ракообра́зное
- моллю́ск (molljúsk)aquatic food that has a shell
- ракообра́зное (rakoobráznoje)aquatic food that has a shell
Scottish Gaelic maorach
- maorachaquatic food that has a shell
Slovak kôrovec, mušľa
- kôrovecaquatic food that has a shell
- mušľaaquatic food that has a shell
- mäkkýšaquatic food that has a shell
- článkonožecaquatic food that has a shell
Spanish marisco
- mariscoaquatic food that has a shell
Swahili samakigamba
- samakigambaaquatic food that has a shell
Swedish skaldjur
- skaldjuraquatic food that has a shell
Thai หอย
- หอย (hɔ̌i)aquatic food that has a shell
Ukrainian молю́ск
- молю́ск (moljúsk)aquatic food that has a shell
Vietnamese ốc
- ốcaquatic food that has a shell
Welsh pysgodyn cragen
- pysgodyn cragenaquatic food that has a shell
Cite this entry
APA
shellfish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shellfish
MLA
“shellfish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shellfish. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shellfish,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shellfish.
Source: shellfish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.