A catfish found in North America, also called a bowfin; a freshwater fish with a rounded tail and greenish coloring.
From Algonquian (likely from an Iroquoian language family), the native name for this fish. The word entered English from Native American languages through early colonial encounters.
The bowfin (amias) is a 'living fossil'—it's basically unchanged for 150 million years—and we use a Native American word for it, a beautiful example of how European languages borrowed both the fish itself and its indigenous name.
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