Tuna

How to spell tuna

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tuna

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tuna mean?

1. nounA large saltwater fish whose flesh is widely eaten fresh or canned.

Tuna in a sentence

• She added a tin of tuna to the pasta salad.

• The boat returned with a heavy catch of tuna.

Where does tuna come from?

Language of origin: Spanish

This word comes from American Spanish tuna, itself a regional form of Spanish atún, which in turn came from the Arabic al-tun, meaning 'the tuna'. The Arabic word descends ultimately from the Latin thunnus and the Greek thynnos, the classical names for the large fish, possibly linked to a verb meaning 'to dart' or 'to rush', a fitting description of how fast these fish swim. English picked up the modern spelling tuna in the United States in the late nineteenth century, drawing directly on the Spanish-speaking fishing communities of California. The older English name for the fish was 'tunny', taken straight from the Latin thunnus, and that form is still occasionally seen in British writing. The simple, phonetic spelling of tuna means it rarely causes trouble, even though its journey through Greek, Latin, Arabic and Spanish is surprisingly long.

How the word is built

• tuna (whole word, from Spanish atún via American Spanish tuna)