In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
ALEWIFE
alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, Pomolobus pseudoharengus
(noun) shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus
alewife
(noun) flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or in coastal streams
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
alewife (plural alewives)
(archaic) A woman who keeps an alehouse.
Synonyms
• brewess
Etymology 2
Noun
alewife (plural alewives)
A migrating North American fish, Alosa pseudoharengus.
Any of several species similar in appearance.
Synonyms
• (Alosa pseudoharengus): branch herring, ellwhop, ellwife, (Canada) gaspereau
Source: Wiktionary
Ale"wife`, n.; pl. Alewives.
Definition: A woman who keeps an alehouse. Gay.
Ale"wife`, n.; pl. Alewives. Etym: [This word is properly aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture of maize in America, "Phil Trans." No. 142, p. 1065, and Baddam's "Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 131.]Etym: (Zoöl.)
Definition: A North American fish (Clupea vernalis) of the Herring family. It is called also ellwife, ellwhop, branch herring. The name is locally applied to other related species.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
28 May 2025
AIR
(noun) a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing; “an air of mystery”; “the house had a neglected air”; “an atmosphere of defeat pervaded the candidate’s headquarters”; “the place had an aura of romance”
Coffee Trivia
