sturgeon English · revision 876

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈstɜːd͡ʒən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈstɝd͡ʒən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sturgeoun]], [[bor|xno|sturgeon]], from Old French ''esturjon'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) of Germanic origin,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) perhaps from [[frk|*sturjo]],^(Etymonline) related to [[goh|sturio|t=sturgeon]] and [[ang|styria|t=sturgeon]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The Germanic group is of obscure origin;^(Etymonline) Weekley suggests it means “stirrer”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The large fish with rows of bony plates, valued as food (before 1300).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sturgeon was much esteemed in ancient Greece and a costly luxury in Rome;^(Etymonline) it also appears in medieval heraldry.^(Etymonline) Medieval Latin ''sturio'', Italian ''storione'' and Spanish ''esturión'' are loanwords from Germanic.^(Etymonline) The fish is valued for its roe, eaten as [[caviar]], and for [[isinglass]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – the fish.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1405 – a kind of cloth (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1804 – named species such as ''lake sturgeon''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various large freshwater and marine fishes of the family Acipenseridae of the Northern Hemisphere, with rows of bony plates, valued for their flesh and as a source of [[caviar]] and [[isinglass]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caviar]]

+ * [[beluga]]

+ * [[isinglass]]

+ * [[sturgeon moon]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}