A piece of refuse or offal, particularly the entrails or inedible parts of fish discarded during processing.
From Middle English and Old French 'garbel,' derived from Italian 'garbello,' ultimately from Arabic 'gharbal' meaning 'to sift.' The meaning shifted from sifting to the discarded material itself.
Medieval fishing communities had specific names for different types of waste, and 'garbel' reminds us that nothing was wasted—even fish scraps were used for fertilizer, glue, and animal feed!
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