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Glite Dictionary
greenling

greenling

1 9.0
A sea fish from the northern Pacific that people eat
  • noun
  • /ˈɡriːnlɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pez verde
  • greenling and rockfish

Compounds

kelp greenling
  • US
7.9

A common spotted fish that lives in kelp forests off the west coast and is often eaten

painted greenling
  • US
9.9

A small fish that lives near the coast and has a light body with dark bands

Surface Forms

greenling singular
greenlings plural

Morphology

greenling = green (semi-transparent) = green + ling

Formed from 'green' + the diminutive/denominal suffix '-ling'; the colour component is clear but the specific reference to a fish species is not predictable from the components alone.

Etymology

Greenling comes from the simple word green plus the ending -ling, where -ling means 'small' (as in duckling). So a greenling literally means a 'small green one', which fits this greenish fish that people catch and eat.