Moderlieschen

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Leucaspius delineatus, a species of freshwater fish found throughout temperate continental Europe.

    "Leucaspius delineatus (Heckel) The common moderlieschen is a small fish of no economic importance, living in the basins of many Ukrainian rivers. Body length: up to 7-8cm (usually less)."

Synonyms

All synonyms
sunbleak

Example

More examples

"Leucaspius delineatus (Heckel) The common moderlieschen is a small fish of no economic importance, living in the basins of many Ukrainian rivers. Body length: up to 7-8cm (usually less)."

Etymology

From German Moderlieschen, from or corresponding to Mutterlöschen, Mutterloseken, literally "motherless one(s)", because the eggs can withstand long exposure to air, stick to ducks and other birds, and be carried to ephemeral ponds, where they may hatch without adults present, leading to folk beliefs that the fish were motherless.

More for "moderlieschen"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.