tuna

/ˈtunə/

/ˈtjunə/

Other forms: tunas

A tuna is a large saltwater fish. The weight of a tuna varies enormously, from four pounds to more than 1,500 pounds!

It's common to refer to the kind of tuna that's sold as food in cans as "tuna fish." If you're mainly familiar with the tuna on your tuna fish sandwich, you might be surprised to learn that the Atlantic bluefin tuna lives to be about 50 years old, and can measure almost seven feet long. The word tuna comes from the Arabic root tun via the Spanish atún.

Definitions of tuna

1. noun

   important warm-water fatty fish of the genus Thunnus of the family Scombridae; usually served as steaks
   synonyms: tuna fish, tunny

   types:

   albacore

   tuna with choice white flesh; major source of canned tuna

   bonito

   flesh of mostly Pacific food fishes of the genus Sarda of the family Scombridae; related to but smaller than tuna

   bluefin, bluefin tuna

   flesh of very large tuna

   type of:

   saltwater fish

   flesh of fish from the sea used as food
2. noun

   any very large marine food and game fish of the genus Thunnus; related to mackerel; chiefly of warm waters
   synonyms: tunny

   types:

   Thunnus alalunga, albacore, long-fin tunny

   large pelagic tuna the source of most canned tuna; reaches 93 pounds and has long pectoral fins; found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters

   Thunnus thynnus, bluefin, bluefin tuna, horse mackerel

   largest tuna; to 1500 pounds; of mostly temperate seas: feed in polar regions but breed in tropics

   Thunnus albacares, yellowfin, yellowfin tuna

   may reach 400 pounds; worldwide in tropics

   type of:

   food fish

   any fish used for food by human beings

   scombroid, scombroid fish

   important marine food and game fishes found in all tropical and temperate seas; some are at least partially endothermic and can thrive in colder waters
3. noun

   New Zealand eel
   synonyms: Anguilla sucklandii

   type of:

   eel

   voracious snakelike marine or freshwater fishes with smooth slimy usually scaleless skin and having a continuous vertical fin but no ventral fins
4. noun

   tropical American prickly pear of Jamaica
   synonyms: Opuntia tuna

   type of:

   prickly pear, prickly pear cactus

   cacti having spiny flat joints and oval fruit that is edible in some species; often used as food for stock