A marine fish of the cod family, commercially important for food, also spelled pollack.
From Scottish 'pollack,' possibly from 'poll' (head) referring to the fish's large head, or from Gaelic. The spelling variation reflects different regional pronunciations and the influence of surnames like Jackson Pollock on American English.
This humble fish shares its name with one of America's most revolutionary artists, Jackson Pollock, creating an amusing linguistic collision between abstract expressionism and the fishing industry. The fish's name predates the painter by centuries, yet many people now think of paint splatters before fish fillets.
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