Standard Lemma guide

pilchard

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.

  • UK: /ˈpɪl.tʃəd/
  • US: /ˈpɪl.t͡ʃɚd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of various small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1839, John Hookham Frere (translator), The Birds, lines 76–77, in Acharnians and two other plays He longs occasionally for human diet, His old Athenian fare: pilchards, for instance.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sardine

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

small fishes found in great schools along coasts of Europe; smaller and rounder than herring

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sardine, Sardina pilchardus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clupeid fish, clupeid

Narrower terms: Pacific sardine, Sardinops caerulea

3

noun

Meaning 3

small fatty fish usually canned

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sardine

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: saltwater fish

History

Etymology

From earlier pilcher, adapted to the suffix -ard. Further etymology unknown. Compare Dutch pelser.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: sardina — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Bulgarian: сардела (sardela) — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Cornish: hernen — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Finnish: sardiini — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • French: pilchard — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • German: Sardine — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Ancient Greek: σαρδίνη (sardínē) — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Hungarian: szardínia — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Irish: pilséar — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Māori: mohimohi — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Māori: mohi — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Serbo-Croatian: са̀рдела — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Serbo-Croatian: sàrdela — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Turkish: sardina — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Turkish: sardalya — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail
  • Welsh: pennog Mair — a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail