# jellyfish

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈd͡ʒɛliˌfɪʃ/ · frequency rank #20,972

## Definitions
1. An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
2. An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
3. An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
4. An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
5. A sudoku technique involving possible cell locations for a digit, or pair, or triple, in uniquely four rows and four columns only. This allows for the elimination of candidates around the grid.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *gel-
Latin gelū
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin gelō
▲
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos
Proto-Italic *-ātos
Latin -ātus
Latin -āta
Early Medieval Latin gelāta
Old French geleebor.
Middle English gele
English jelly
Proto-Indo-European *péysks
Proto-Germanic *fiskaz
Proto-West Germanic *fisk
Old English fisċ
Middle English fisch
English fish
English jellyfish
From jelly + fish. From being an aquatic creature (i.e. fish) that is gelatinous (“jelly”). Despite the name, jellyfish are not biologically classified as fish.
The term appeared in the mid-19th century and displaced various older terms such as sea jelly (now much less common), blubber/sea blubber, nettle/sea nettle (both now referring to specific jellyfish species), and, in scientific literature, medusa.

## Common misspellings (13)
`ejllyfish`, `jellfyish`, `jellyffish`, `jellyfihs`, `jellyfishh`, `jellyfissh`, `jellyfsih`, `jellyifsh`, `jellyyfish`, `jelyfish`, `jelylfish`, `jjellyfish`, `jlelyfish`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/jellyfish