siscowet
(ˈsɪskəʊɛt)
Also ciscoette, ciscovet, siskawitz, -iwit, -owet, etc.
[Odjibwa, meaning literally ‘cooks itself’ (Goode).]
A variety of the great Lake trout of N. America, found in Lake Superior.
| 1847 C. Lanman Summer in Wildern. 159 A fish called ciscovet, is unquestionably of the trout genus, but much more delicious. Ibid. 161 The white-fish, ciscovet, and lake trout. 1849 H. W. Herbert Fish & Fishing 145 The Siskawitz is rather shorter and stouter than the Mackinaw fish. 1854 C. Lanman Adv. Wilds N. Amer. xxxiv. 253 We cannot leave Mackinaw without making a passing allusion to the fish whose Indian name is ciscovet. It is a handsome fish, unquestionably of the trout family. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 496 The Siscowet, Salvelinus Namaycush. 1888 ― Amer. Fishes 468 The amateur is likely to confound the Namaycush with the Siscowet. 1902 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 243 Ciscoette. A name of the lake herring. Apparently a derivative, with French diminutive suffix, from Cisco (q.v.), but rather a corruption of Siskowit. |
| attrib. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 318 Siscowet Salmon..is probably a local variety rather than a distinct species. |