stock-fish, ˈstockfish
For forms see stock n.1 and fish n.1; also 3 -fhis, 4 -fihs, -fys, 5 -fisch(e, -physhe, pl. -fyscheys.
[Prob. a. (M)Du. stokvisch = MHG. stocvisch (G. stockfisch), MSw. stokfisker (Sw. stockfisk, Da. stokfisk); f. Du. stok stock n.1; the reason for the designation is variously conjectured.]
1. a. A name for cod and other gadoid fish cured by splitting open and drying hard in the air without salt.
| 1290 in J. Stevenson Docum. illustr. Hist. Scot. (1870) I. 139 Pro cc stokfhis, xviij s. 1350 in Registr. Monast. de Winchelcumba (1892) 264 Dimidium centum duri piscis de stocfish, videlicet coursfish. 1436 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 191 Of the comodius stokfysshe of Yselonde. 1450–4 in Oxf. Stud. Soc. & Legal Hist. (1914) IV. 199, ix{supc} Stockfisshes and an c iiijxx Saltfisshes. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 303 From hense [Norway] is brought into all Europe a fysshe of the kindes of them whiche we caule haddockes or hakes indurate and dryed with coulde, and beaten with clubbes or stockes, by reason whereof the Germayns caule them stocke⁓fysshe. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 99 In Norway they catch great store of Stockfish, which they beate with cudgels, and dry with cold. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. ii. 18 (Norway) Stock-fish in great numbers are caught and dried upon the rocks without salting. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. ii. 22 The stockfish, dried in the open air, without salt. |
b. In figurative, proverbial and jocular expressions. (Often with reference to the beating of the fish before cooking.)
| 1515 Barclay Egloges i. (1570) A ij, And as a stockfishe wrinkled is my skinne. 1552 Huloet, s.v. Beate, Beate often as a stockfyshe is beaten, retundo. 1560 Becon Catech. vi. Wks. I. 522 b, Those parents..whiche furiously rage against their children, and without consideration beat them as stockfish. 1575 R. B. Apius & Virginia (facs.) B j, As stout as a Stockefish. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 79 By this hand, Ile..make a Stockfish of thee. 1666 Third Advice to Painter 30 Beat him to Stock-fish, else he'l ne'r be good. 1680 Otway Caius Marius v. ii, As dead as a Herring, a Stock-fish or Door-Nail. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge lvi, Old John sat, mute as a stock-fish. 1859 Meredith R. Feverel xxxvii, London is as dead as a stock-fish. |
c. In contemptuous address to a person.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 271 Away..you stocke-fish. |
d. attrib. and Comb., as stockfish-bone, stock-fish-monger, stock-fish-sound; stockfish-hammer, a hammer for beating the fish before cooking; † stockfish-wood, an American wood resembling logwood.
| 1299 in R. R. Sharpe Cal. Lond. Lett.-Bk. C. (1901) 55 Stocfismongers. 1350–1 in W. H. St. John Hope Windsor Castle (1913) I. 161 In Cvj stokfisshsondis emptis pro glu inde faciendo. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 23 A stokefisshe boon in dirkeness ȝeveth a light. 1480–1 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 97, ij Stokfisshammers. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. 57 Of these sorts Bloodwood and Stock-fish-wood are of the natural growth of America. 1766 Entick Lond. IV. 6 Robert March, a stock-fish monger. |
2. [ad. Afrikaans, f. Du. stokvis stockfish, hake.] Also † stok-fish. The South African hake, Merluccius capensis, of the family Gadidæ, a large marine food fish. S. Afr.
| 1823 W. W. Bird State of Cape of Good Hope in 1822 viii. 159 The hottentot, jacob evert, elft, hake or stockfish, the king klipfish, the steen brazen, and the stompneus are all of excellent quality. 1853 L. Pappe Edible Fishes Cape of Good Hope 31 The cured or dried Cape Stok-fish is an excellent dish. 1913 W. W. Thompson Sea Fisheries Cape Colony ii. 48 The larger fish, such as..steenbras, stockfish,..are caught with fish bait. 1930 [see kingklip]. 1947 K. H. Barnard Pict. Guide S. Afr. Fishes iii. 83 The stockfish has become one of the mainstays of the South African fishing industry. |
Hence † ˈstockfished pa. pple., made hard as a stock-fish.
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. i. 68 So verily I believe, that our Knight's parts would be stockfisht, and solidated by continuall contusions, threshings, and quassations. |