gudgeon
/ˈɡʌd͡ʒən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.92 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A small freshwater fish of species Gobio gobio, native to Eurasia.
noun
Any of various similar small fish of the family Eleotridae, often used as bait.
Australian usage
noun
Any of various other fish, similar in appearance and principally in families Butidae and Eleotridae.
Example Sentences
- "[…] Ile tell thee more of this another time. / But fiſh not with this melancholy baite, / For this foole gudgin, this opinion: […]"
- "[…] Make Fools believe in their fore-seeing / Of things before they are in Being; / To swallow Gudgeons ere th' are catch'd, / And count their Chickens ere th' are hatch'd, […]"
- "The Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to be very wholesome: he is of a fine shape, of a silver colour, and beautified with black spots both on his body and tail."
- "You save your souls here, eating cabbage, and think you are the righteous. You eat a gudgeon a day, and you think you bribe God with gudgeon."
- "The southern purple-spotted gudgeon [Mogurnda adspersa] can be hard to find. Although colourful, they are thin and only grow up to 12 centimetres."
- "The Doctor now obeys the Summons, / Likes both his Company, and Commons; / Diſplays his Talent, ſits till Ten; / Next Day invited, comes again; / Soon grows Domeſtick, ſeldom fails, / Either at Morning, or at Meals; / Came early, and departed late: / In ſhort, the Gudgeon took the Bait."
Etymology
The noun is derived from Late Middle English gojoun [and other forms], from Old French gojon, goujon (“gudgeon”), from Late Latin gōbiōnem, the accusative of gōbiō, the augmentative of Latin gōbius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβῐός (kōbĭós, “fish of the gudgeon kind”), probably of Semitic origin. The English word is a doublet of goby and goujon. The verb is derived from the noun.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: gojoun, gojon, gōbiōnem, gōbius, κωβῐός, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡʌd͡ʒən/
- British English: /ˈɡʌdʒən/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Ambon gudgeon B
Amur false gudgeon G
Amur longnose gudgeon G
Amur white gudgeon
Amur white-finned gudgeon
Amur whitefin gudgeon G
Anatolian gudgeon G
Aru gudgeon