characin

or char·a·cid

[ kar-uh-sin ]

noun
  1. any freshwater fish of the family Characidae, of Africa and Central and South America.

Origin of characin

1
1880–85; <New Latin Characinidae name of family, equivalent to Characin(us) the genus (charac- (<Greek charak-, stem of chárax pointed stake, a sea fish) + -inus-in1) + -idae-idae

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British Dictionary definitions for characin

characin

characid

/ (ˈkærəsɪn) /


noun
  1. any small carnivorous freshwater cyprinoid fish of the family Characidae, of Central and South America and Africa. They are similar to the carps but more brightly coloured

Origin of characin

1
C19: from New Latin Characinidae, from characinus, from Greek kharax a fish, probably the sea bream

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