Meanings
tuna1
plural tunas
- countableuncountableAny of several species of fish of the genus Thunnus in the family Scombridae.
Tuna was carried down by the flood; and when Maui saw him in the net he stretched forth his arm and with a blow of his stone axe smote Tuna and cut off his head, and it and the tail fell into the ocean. ... The head became fish, and the tail became the koiro (ngoiro—conger-eel).
1887, John White, The Ancient History of the Maori, page 84
tuna2
plural tunas
- The prickly pear, a type of cactus native to Mexico in the genus Opuntia.
- The fruit of the cactus.
THE TUNA OR PRICKLY PEAR AS A FOOD FOR MAN
1907, Experiment Station Work, volume 3, page 94
tuna3
plural tunas
- slangSomeone who is seen as socially successful despite not being a gang member.
Tuna4
Tuna5
- Maori mythologyA god, considered the son of Manga-wai-roa and source of eels.
Tuna was carried down by the flood; and when Maui saw him in the net he stretched forth his arm and with a blow of his stone axe smote Tuna and cut off his head, and it and the tail fell into the ocean. [...] The head became fish, and the tail became the koiro (ngoiro—conger-eel).
1887, John White, The Ancient History of the Maori, page 84
Synonyms & antonyms
nountropical American prickly pear of Jamaica
nounimportant warm-water fatty fish of the genus Thunnus of the family Scombridae; usually served as steaks
nounany very large marine food and game fish of the genus Thunnus; related to mackerel; chiefly of warm waters
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
tuna · noun
- Ancient Greekθῠ́ννος (thŭ́nnos)
- Latinthunnus
- Arabicتُنّ (tunn)
- Old Spanishatun
- Spanishatún
- United States Spanishtuna
- Englishtuna
Borrowed from United States Spanish tuna, alteration of Spanish atún, from Arabic التُّنّ (at-tunn, “tuna”), from Latin thunnus, itself from Ancient Greek θύννος (thúnnos). Possibly in the sense of "darter" from thynein "to dart along". Doublet of tonno.
More words from United States Spanish, Spanish, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Tuna · proper noun
- Old NorseTuna
- SwedishTuna
- EnglishTuna
From Swedish Tuna, from Old Norse Tuna, from tún (“enclosure, enclosed area, settlement”).
More words from Swedish, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Tuna · proper noun
- MāoriTuna
- MāoriTuna
- EnglishTuna
Borrowed from Māori Tuna.
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek θύννος
- θύννος (thúnnos)fish
Arabic تُونَة, تُنّ
- تُونَة (tūna)fish
- تُنّ (tunn)fish
Basque atun
- atunfish
Bulgarian риба тон
- риба тон (riba ton)fish
Catalan tonyina, figa de moro
- tonyinafish
- figa de morofruit of the cactus
Chinese Cantonese 吞拿魚 /吞拿鱼
- 吞拿魚 /吞拿鱼 (tan¹ naa⁴ jyu²)fish
Chinese Mandarin 金槍魚 /金枪鱼
- 金槍魚 /金枪鱼 (jīnqiāngyú)fish
Czech tuňák
- tuňákfish
Danish tun
- tunfish
Dutch tonijn
- tonijnfish
Esperanto tinuso
- tinusofish
Finnish tonnikala, tonnikala
- tonnikalafish
- tonnikalaflesh
French thon
- thonfish
German Thunfisch, Thun
- Thunfischfish
- Thunfish
- Thunfischflesh
- Thunflesh
Greek τόνος
- τόνος (tónos)fish
Hebrew טונה
- טונהfish
Hungarian tonhal, tonhal
- tonhalfish
- tonhalflesh
Icelandic túnfiskur
- túnfiskurfish
Irish tuinnín
- tuinnínfish
Italian tonno
- tonnofish
Japanese 鮪, ツナ
- 鮪fish
- ツナ (tsuna)fish
Korean 다랑어, 참다랑어
- 다랑어 (darang'eo)fish
- 참다랑어 (chamdarang'eo)fish
- 참치 (chamchi)fish
Latin thunnus
- thunnusfish
Latvian tuncis
- tuncisfish
Lithuanian tunas
- tunasfish
Malay tuna, aya
- tunafish
- ayafish
Norwegian Bokmål tunfisk, tunfisk
- tunfiskfish
- tunfiskflesh
Persian ماهی تن
- ماهی تن (mâhi-ye ton)fish
Polish tuńczyk, tuńczyk
- tuńczykfish
- tuńczykflesh
Portuguese atum
- atumfish
Romanian ton
- tonfish
Russian туне́ц
- туне́ц (tunéc)fish
Slovak tuniak
- tuniakfish
Spanish atún, nopal
- atúnfish
- nopaltype of cactus
- tunafruit of the cactus
Swedish tonfisk
- tonfiskfish
Tagalog tulingan, atun
- tulinganfish
- atunfish
Thai ทูน่า, โอ
- ทูน่า (tuu-nâa)fish
- โอ (oo)fish
Turkish ton balığı, orkinos
- ton balığıfish
- orkinosfish
- tonfish
Ukrainian туне́ць
- туне́ць (tunécʹ)fish
Vietnamese cá ngừ đại dương
- cá ngừ đại dươngfish
Welsh tiwna
- tiwnafish
Yiddish טונפֿיש
- טונפֿיש (tunfish)fish
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tuna
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tuna. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tuna
“tuna.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tuna. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tuna,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tuna.
Source: tuna on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.