▪ I. cunner
(ˈkʌnə(r))
Also conner, connor.
[In the form conner, prob. an application of conner3, conder of a ship or of herring-boats.]
The name of two fishes of the family Labridæ or Wrasses: a. The Gilt-head (Crenilabrus melops), found on the British coasts. b. The Blue Perch or Burgall (Ctenolabrus adspersus), found on the Atlantic coast of North America, from Newfoundland to Delaware Bay.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 34 b, They lay also certaine Weelyes in the Sea for taking of Cunners, which there-through are termed Cunner-pots. 1620 J. Mason New-found-land 5 Flounders, Crabbes, Cunners, Catfish. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 325 The Gilt-Head, Connor, Golden Maid. Crenilabrus melops (Cuv.). 1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 261 Crenilabrus Tinca, Flem., called the ‘Gilt-head’, ‘Connor,’ etc., is found on many parts of our coast. 1852 Hawthorne Amer. Note-Bks. (1883) 417, I have been fishing for cunners off the rocks. 1865 S. Tenney Zool. 340. |
▪ II. cunner
obs. form of conner1, tester.