alewife

[ eyl-wahyf ]

/ ˈeɪlˌwaɪf /

a North American fish, Alosa pseudoharengus, resembling a small shad.

Origin of alewife

1625–35, Americanism; earlier allowes, perhaps influenced by alewife², probably < French alose shad < Gallo-Latin alausa

alewife ²

[ eyl-wahyf ]

/ ˈeɪlˌwaɪf /

a woman who owns or operates an alehouse.

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at ale, wife

Bunch (Mother), an alewife, mentioned by Dekker in his drama called Satiromastix .

Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1 |The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.
There be espiers set in every lane and the highway, said the alewife.

Long Will |Florence Converse
The Menhaden make their appearance in the spring with the arrival of the shad, alewife, blue-fish, and weak-fish.

Fast Nine |Alan Douglas
Calote had caught the withered bough when it fell, and made off with it under the alewife's very nose.

Long Will |Florence Converse

Joan (passim), a generic name for an alewife, strumpet, and the like: see Doctour Double Ale and next entry.

Early English Dramatists--Recently Recovered "Lost" Tudor Plays with some others |Various

alewife

/ (ˈeɪlˌwaɪf) /

a North American fish, Pomolobus pseudoharengus, similar to the herring Clupea harengus: family Clupeidae (herrings)

C19: perhaps an alteration (through influence of alewife, that is, a large rotund woman, alluding to the fish's shape) of French alose shad