Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei.[2] The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it comes from the Italian island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant.[3][4][5]

The terms "sardine" and "pilchard" are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. The United Kingdom's Sea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards.[6] One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 15 cm (6 in) are sardines, and larger fish are pilchards.[7] The FAO/WHO Codex standard for canned sardines cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines.[8] FishBase, a database of information about fish, calls at least six species pilchards, over a dozen just sardines, and many more with the two basic names qualified by various adjectives.

Etymology

The word sardine first appeared in English in the 15th century, a loanword from French sardine, derived from Latin sardina, from Ancient Greek σαρδίνη (sardínē) or σαρδῖνος (sardĩnos),[9] possibly from the Greek Σαρδώ (Sardō) 'Sardinia'. Athenaios quotes a fragmentary passage from Aristotle mentioning the fish σαρδῖνος (sardĩnos), referring to the sardine or pilchard.[10] However, Sardinia is over 1000 km from Athens, so it seems "hardly probable that the Greeks would have obtained fish from so far as Sardinia at a time relatively so early as that of Aristotle",[11] although the Myceneans traded with the Sardinians during the latter Bronze Age.[12]

The flesh of some sardines or pilchards is a reddish-brown colour similar to some varieties of red sardonyx or sardine stone; this word derives from σαρδῖον (sardĩon) with a root meaning 'red' and possibly cognate with Sardis, the capital of ancient Lydia (now western Turkey) where it was obtained. However, the name may refer to the reddish-pink colour of the gemstone sard (or carnelian) known to the ancients.[13][14]