Etymology Dictionary

MACKEREL,  the name of a fish.  (F.,—L.)   M. E. makerel, Havelok, 758.—O. F. makerel, in Neckam's Treatise de Utensilibus; Wright's Vocab. i. 98, l. I.   (Mod. F. maquereau)   β. It is usual to derive O. F. makerel from Lat. macula, a stain; 'from the dark blotches with which the fish is marked' (Wedgwood).   It is rather from the original Lat. word (macus or maca) of which macula is the extant diminutive form, and of which we find a trace in Span. maca, a stain, a bruise on fruit.   γ. That this is the right etymology of the word is clear from another sense of O. F. maquereau; Cotgrave gives:  'Maquereaux, red scorches or spots on the legs of such as use to sit neer the fire.'   [The name of the brill arose in a similar way; see Brill]   δ. The right etymology of Lat. macula is perhaps that given by Fick, i. 707; viz. from ✔MAK, to pound, whence also E. macerate; see Macerate.   This is sustained by Ital. ammaccare, to crush, bruise, Span. machar, to pound, and other words mentioned by Diez (s. v. macco).   The senses 'pound, bruise, beat black and blue, stain,' are thus arranged in what is probably their right order.   ¶ The suggestion in Mahn's Webster, that the F. maquereau, a mackerel, is the same word as O. F. maquereau, a pandar (Cotgrave), from 'a popular tradition in France that the mackerel, in spring, follows the female shads, which are called vierges or maids, and leads them to their mates,' is one which I make bold to reject.   It is clear that the story arose out of the coincidence of the name, and that the name was not derived from the story.   The etymology of O. F. maquereau, a pandar, is from the Teut. source preserved in Du. makelaar, a broker, pandar, from Du. makelen, to procure, bring about, frequentative form of maken, to make.