Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

grilse

/ɡɹɪls/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.12 in modern English

Syllables: grilse
IPA: /ɡɹɪls/

7

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

1

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A young salmon after its first return from the sea.

Example Sentences

"[T]hey ca' it fasting when they hae the best o' fish frae Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forbye trouts, gilses, salmon, and a' the lave o't, and so they make their very fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]"
"In our own tongue salmon are fry as babies, parr as children, smolt as adolescents, and grilse as adults."

Etymology

From Middle English grills, grilles, of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots grils, grissill, girls (“young salmon”). Compare English grawl, Scots grawl, graulse (“young salmon, grilse”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: grills

Inflected Forms

grilses (plural) gilse (alternative)

Synonyms

grilt

Rhymes With

fils

Questions

How do you pronounce grilse?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɡɹɪls/.
What does grilse mean?: A young salmon after its first return from the sea.
Where does grilse come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce grilse

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “grilse”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɡɹɪls/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “grilse”.
Repeat and practice — Say “grilse” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.