weever
(ˈwiːvə(r))
Also 7 wiver, 7–9 weaver.
[Prob. originally wĭver, a. OF. (north-eastern) wivre the weever (13th c.), a transferred use of wivre serpent, dragon (see wyver, wyvern), = Central OF. guivre (mod. heraldic F. guivre, givre), repr. L. vīpera viper; the more normal OF. descendant of L. vīpera is vivre, the weever (whence viver2, quaviver), mod.F. vive. The fish was called ‘viper’ from its venomous spines: see quot. 1622.]
A fish of the genus Trachinus or family Trachinidae, common on the coasts of Europe; esp. T. draco, the Greater, and T. vipera, the Lesser Weever. They have sharp dorsal and opercular spines with which they can inflict painful wounds.
| 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxv. 167 The Weauer, which although his prickles venom bee, By Fishers cut away, which Buyers seldom see. 1666 Merrett Pinax 187 Araneus, a Weaver, or Wiver. 1747 H. Glasse Cookery ix. 88 To Broil Weavers. 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 263 Trachinus..The Weever. 1766 Smollett Trav. I. xviii. 292 Here too are found the vyvre, or, as we call it, weaver; remarkable for its long, sharp spines, so dangerous to the fingers of the fishermen. 1832 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 7 These are, the greater weaver..and the tadpole fish. 1848 Johns Week at Lizard 171 It was the Lesser Weever. |
| Comb. 1867 J. G. Wood Routledge's Pop. Nat. Hist. iii. 97 The Great Weaver, or Weever Fish. |