stockfish, noun

Forms:
Also stokfish.
Plurals:
unchanged.
Origin:
DutchShow more Calque formed on Dutch stokvis (see stokvis).
Note:
In general English, the name stockfish has long been used for the cod and other similar fish cured by drying in the air without salt.
The hake Merluccius capensis of the Merlucciidae, an important food-fish; stokvis. Also attributive.
Note:
In Smith and Heemstra’s Smiths’ Sea Fishes (1986), the name ‘shallow-water hake’ is used for this species.
1823 W.W. Bird State of Cape of G.H. 159The..hake or stockfish, the king klipfish, the steen brazen..are all of excellent quality.
1847 ‘A Bengali’ Notes on Cape of G.H. 69It is all cheap enough but the ‘sole’, and that unfortunately is the best eating. Stock fish is the next, and like cod.
1853 L. Pappe Synopsis of Edible Fishes 31The cured or dried Cape Stok-fish is an excellent dish.
1905 J.D.F. Gilchrist in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 193The familiar Stock-fish..and the Maasbanker..are examples from the group of fishes illustrating identity of Cape and European forms.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 479Stock-fish, Merlucius vulgaris, known at Port Elizabeth as the Hake.
1926 M. Nathan S. Afr. from Within 204The larger staple fish are silverfish, stumpnose, Cape Salmon,..and stockfish (hake).
1930 C.L. Biden Sea-Angling Fishes 108The fresh European cod is called ‘Kabeljaauw’ by Netherlandic and German people and the dried or salted cod is called stockfish. The South African stockfish (Merluccius capensis) bears a stronger resemblance than our kabeljou to the North Sea cod.
1942 Off. Yr Bk of Union No. 22, 1941 (Union Office of Census & Statistics) 770The stockfish is the same as the Hake of European seas.
1945 H. Gerber Fish Fare 60Stockfish is plentiful and widely known. Its soft, white meat is easily digestible.
1949 J.L.B. Smith Sea Fishes of Sn Afr. 139Merluccius capensis...Stockfish...In greatest abundance on our west coast, and extends, but is progressively scarcer, eastwards to or just beyond East London...The Stockfish is commercially the most important single species.., being taken in great quantity by trawl...Our species is very like the European Hake.
1955 C. Horne Fisherman’s Eldorado 188Cape Town docks..draw many anglers each winter...They hope to catch kabeljou,..white stumpnose, stockfish, mackerel and maasbanker.
1969 J.R. Grindley Riches of Sea 71The main trawled fish is the South African hake or stockfish, Merluccius capensis, which may grow up to 48 inches, but those caught today are usually 12 to 30 inches long.
1973 Farmer’s Weekly 18 Apr. 100Stockfish, or hake..is most obliging. You can do almost anything with it — fry, boil, bake or make into fish cakes or fish pies. It is too soft for pickling or the making of smoorvis.
1975 Financial Mail 11 Apr. 112The company called on a local white fish trawling company to buy kreef bait (which consists largely of stockfish and kingklip heads).
1983 S. Afr. Panorama Jan. 10Trawler fishing..is aimed particularly at the catching of stockfish, kingklip, sole, kabeljou, snoek, and some less important species.
The hake Merluccius capensis of the Merlucciidae, an important food-fish; stokvis. Also attributive.
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Dutch
stock-fair, nounn.stoep, nounn.
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