A type of fish with a body shaped like an eel's, or a ridge on something that resembles an eel's curved back.
Compound of 'eel' (Old English 'æl') and 'back' (Old English 'bæc'). Combined to describe the distinctive curved or elongated back shape characteristic of eel-like fish.
Medieval fishermen created compound words by stacking descriptions together, and 'eelback' shows how they named new fish discoveries by comparing them to the most common eel they knew—a naming practice we still use today with 'sea-monkey' and 'horseshoe crab.'
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.