A front fin of a fish or aquatic animal, especially one used for steering or balance rather than propulsion.
Compound of 'fore' (front) and 'fin' (the appendage of a fish). Developed as naturalists and fishermen needed precise terms to distinguish different fins on aquatic creatures.
Fish have four types of fins, and early naturalists had to invent names to separate them—forefins are the pectoral fins, which actually help fish steer and stop, making them more like 'hands' than a propeller.
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