tench

T1E1N1C3H4
/tɛnt͡ʃ/

noun

A species of freshwater game fish, Tinca tinca.

Similar
Tinca tinca
OriginMiddle English tenche ← Old French tenche ← Late Latin tinca →
UncommonScrabble 10
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

tench1

nountench (plural tench or tenches)

plural tenches

  1. A species of freshwater game fish, Tinca tinca.

tench2

nountench (plural tenches)

plural tenches

  1. UKobsoleteslangA penitentiary.

Tench3

proper noun
  1. A surname.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounfreshwater dace-like game fish of Europe and western Asia noted for ability to survive outside water

Similar
Tinca tinca
Broader
cyprinidcyprinid fish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

tench · noun

  1. Late Latintinca
  2. Old Frenchtenche
  3. Middle Englishtenche
  4. Englishtench

From Middle English tenche, from Old French tenche, from Late Latin tinca.

More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

tench · noun

Contraction.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Basque tenka
  • tenkaspecies of freshwater game fish
Bulgarian лин
  • лин (lin)species of freshwater game fish
Catalan tenca
  • tencaspecies of freshwater game fish
Chinese Mandarin 丁鱖 /丁鳜
  • 丁鱖 /丁鳜species of freshwater game fish
Czech lín
  • línspecies of freshwater game fish
Danish suder
  • suderspecies of freshwater game fish
Dutch zeelt, louw
  • zeeltspecies of freshwater game fish
  • louwspecies of freshwater game fish
Esperanto tinko
  • tinkospecies of freshwater game fish
Estonian linask
  • linaskspecies of freshwater game fish
Finnish suutari
  • suutarispecies of freshwater game fish
French tanche
  • tanchespecies of freshwater game fish
German Schleie
  • Schleiespecies of freshwater game fish
Greek κυπρίνος
  • κυπρίνος (kyprínos)species of freshwater game fish
Hungarian compó
  • compóspecies of freshwater game fish
Irish cúramán
  • cúramánspecies of freshwater game fish
Italian tinca
  • tincaspecies of freshwater game fish
Japanese テンチ
  • テンチ (tenchi)species of freshwater game fish
Latin tinca
  • tincaspecies of freshwater game fish
Latvian līnis
  • līnisspecies of freshwater game fish
Polish lin, oczeretniak
  • linspecies of freshwater game fish
  • oczeretniakspecies of freshwater game fish
Portuguese tenca
  • tencaspecies of freshwater game fish
Russian линь
  • линь (linʹ)species of freshwater game fish
Slovak lieň
  • lieňspecies of freshwater game fish
Spanish tenca
  • tencaspecies of freshwater game fish
Swedish sutare
  • sutarespecies of freshwater game fish
Turkish kadife balığı
  • kadife balığıspecies of freshwater game fish
Ukrainian лин
  • лин (lyn)species of freshwater game fish
Welsh ysgreten
  • ysgretenspecies of freshwater game fish
Yiddish שלעיין
  • שלעיין (shlayen)species of freshwater game fish

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with tench

frenchbenchwrenchtrenchworkbenchstenchquenchmenschdenchdrenchclenchentrenchhenchretrenchbentshblenchdog bone wrenchkenchnut wrenchpardon my Frenchring wrenchscrew wrenchunclench
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

tench. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tench

MLA

“tench.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tench. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tench,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tench.

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