Meanings
plural swordtails
- One of many species of freshwater fish, in genus Xiphophorus, others of which are called platyfish.
But ongoing efforts to sequence genes from other fishes, including salmon and swordtail, will also help to test the theory, Postlethwait says.
1998 August 21, Gretchen Vogel, “EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY:Doubled Genes May Explain Fish Diversity”, in Science, volume 281, number 5380, →DOI, pages 1119–11211 more example
There were all kinds - Swordtails, Guppies, Platys, Terras [sic], Neons, Cichlids, Labyrinth and Paradise fish, and every variety of exotic Goldfish.
1954, Ian Fleming, “Midnight Among The Worms”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 156 - Any of various papilionid butterflies that have a long sword-like projection from the tornal section of each hindwing.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounfreshwater fish of Central America having a long swordlike tail; popular aquarium fish
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian хелер
- хелер (heler)freshwater fish
Danish sværddrager
- sværddragerfreshwater fish
Finnish miekkapyrstö
- miekkapyrstöfreshwater fish
French xiphophore
- xiphophorefreshwater fish
Greek ξιφοφόρος
- ξιφοφόρος (xifofóros)freshwater fish
Russian мечено́сец
- мечено́сец (mečenósec)freshwater fish
Cite this entry
swordtail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swordtail
“swordtail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swordtail. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “swordtail,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swordtail.
Source: swordtail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.