alewife

Ale"wife`, n.; pl. Alewives. Defn: A woman who keeps an alehouse. Gay. Ale"wife`, n.; pl. Alewives. Etym: [This word is properly aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture of maize in America, "Phil Trans." No. 142, p. 1065, and Baddam's "Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 131.]Etym: (Zoöl.) Defn: A North American fish (Clupea vernalis) of the Herring family. It is called also ellwife, ellwhop, branch herring. The name is locally applied to other related species.

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