A type of silvery fish related to herrings that swims in both oceans and rivers, famous for migrating upstream to spawn.
From Old English 'sceadd,' probably from Proto-Germanic roots. The word has stayed remarkably similar for over a thousand years, suggesting the fish was always important enough to name.
Shad were so abundant in colonial America that servants refused to eat them more than twice a week—now they're considered a delicacy, showing how overfishing can transform abundance into scarcity within generations.
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