Standard Lemma guide

halibut

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈhæ.lɪ.bət/
  • /ˈhɒ.lɪ.bət/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AE1 L AH0 B AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A large flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus, which sometimes leaves the ocean floor and swims vertically.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

marine food fish of the northern Atlantic or northern Pacific; the largest flatfish and one of the largest teleost fishes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: holibut

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: flatfish

3

noun

Meaning 3

lean flesh of very large flatfish of Atlantic or Pacific

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: flatfish

History

Etymology

From Middle English *halibutt, equivalent to holy + but (“flatfish”), since the fish was often eaten on holy days. Cognate with Dutch heilbot, German Heiligbutt, Heilbutt, Heilbutte, Danish helleflynder, Swedish helgeflundra, and Norwegian Nynorsk hellefisk.

Across languages

Translations

63 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Aleut: chagix̂ — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Alutiiq: sagiq — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Arabic: هَلْبُوت (halbūt) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Armenian: վահանաձուկ (vahanajuk) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Belarusian: па́лтус (páltus) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Bulgarian: камбала (kambala) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大比目魚 /大比目鱼 (dàbǐmùyú) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Czech: platýs — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Danish: helleflynder — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Dutch: heilbot — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Esperanto: hipogloso — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Faroese: kalvi — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Finnish: ruijanpallas — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • French: flétan — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • French: elbot — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Galician: fletán — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • German: Heilbutt — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • German: Heiligbutt — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • German: Heiligenbutt — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • German: Pferdezunge — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • German: Riesenscholle — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Hungarian: laposhal — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Icelandic: lúða — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Icelandic: heilagfiski — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Icelandic: flyðra — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Irish: haileabó — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Italian: halibut — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Italian: ippoglosso — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Italian: fletano — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Japanese: オヒョウ (ohyō) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Japanese: 大鮃 (ohyō) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Latin: hippoglōssus — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Lushootseed: sčútχ — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Malay: halibut — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Maranao: danogan — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Nootka: p̕uuʔi — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kveite — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hellefisk — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kveite — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hellefisk — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Polish: halibut — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Polish: kulbak — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Portuguese: hipoglosso — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Portuguese: halibute — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Portuguese: alabote — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Romanian: cambulă — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Romanian: limbă-de-cal — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Romanian: calcan-sfânt — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Russian: па́лтус (páltus) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Northern Sami: bálddis — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Scottish Gaelic: bradan-leathann — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Scottish Gaelic: pacach-cearr — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Spanish: fletán — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Spanish: pez mantequilla — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Spanish: hipogloso — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Spanish: paltus — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Spanish: halibut — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Swedish: hälleflundra — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Swedish: helgeflundra — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Tlingit: cháatl — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Turkish: halibut — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Ukrainian: па́лтус (páltus) — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus
  • Volapük: holbut — flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus