Standard Lemma guide

tarpon

noun · 2 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.

  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)pən
  • CMU ARPABET: T AA1 R P AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several fishes of the family Elopidae or Megalopidae, especially a large silvery game fish.

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

large silvery game fish of warm Atlantic coastal waters especially off Florida

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Tarpon atlanticus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: soft-finned fish, malacopterygian

Narrower terms: ladyfish, tenpounder, Elops saurus

History

Etymology

Compare Dutch tarpoen. Suggestions that the term derives from a Native American term are unlikely.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: tarpó — fish
  • Finnish: tarponi — fish
  • French: tarpon — fish
  • Polish: tarpon — fish
  • Portuguese: pirapema — fish
  • Portuguese: tarpão — fish
  • Portuguese: camurupim — fish
  • Russian: тарпо́н (tarpón) — fish
  • Spanish: sábalo — fish
  • Swedish: tarpon — fish
  • Turkish: tarpon balığı — fish