Word Study
tunny
CIDE DICTIONARY
tunny, n. [L. thunnus, thynnus, Gr. qy`nnos, qy^nos: cf. It. tonno, F. & Pr. thon.].
The chiefly British equivalent of tuna ; any one of several species of large oceanic fishes belonging to the Mackerel family, especially the common or great tunny (Thunnus thynnus syn. Albacora thynnus , formerly Orcynus thynnus ) native of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean . It sometimes weighs a thousand pounds or more, and is extensively caught in the Mediterranean. On the American coast it is called horse mackerel . See Illust. of Horse mackerel , under Horse. [1913 Webster]
" The little tunny (Gymnosarda alletterata ) of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the long-finned tunny, or albicore (Thunnus alalunga , see Albacore ), are related species of smaller size." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
tunny, n. (pl. same or -ies) = TUNA(1).
Etymology
F thon f. Prov. ton, f. L thunnus f. Gk thunnos
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