cichlid

noun

cich·​lid ˈsi-kləd How to pronounce cichlid (audio)
: any of a family (Cichlidae) of mostly tropical spiny-finned usually freshwater fishes including several kept in tropical aquariums
cichlid adjective

Examples of cichlid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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In scale-eating cichlid fish (Perissodus microlepis), the dominant eye directly governs which side the fish attacks from during predation; blocking it with an artificial cataract more than halves the angle velocity of their strike and significantly reduces their success rate. Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026 To see whether fish might possess this ability, the team went to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa to conduct different experiments on the emperor cichlid (Boulengerochromis microlepis), a species that is neither too fearful of nor too aggressive toward humans. Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2026 Kayaking, swimming, and snorkeling to see the lake's vibrant cichlid fish population are popular pastimes. Melanie Van Zyl, Travel + Leisure, 6 Mar. 2026 These warblers now join Amazonian butterflies, cichlid fish in Africa, as well as our own hominid lineage, as exemplars of this process of evolutionary sharing. David Toews, The Conversation, 11 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cichlid

Word History

Etymology

from the base of New Latin Cichlidae, family name, from Cichla, a genus in the family (borrowed from Greek kíchlē "thrush, a species of wrasse," probably of pre-Greek substratal origin) + -idae -idae

First Known Use

1884, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cichlid was in 1884

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Cite this Entry

“Cichlid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cichlid. Accessed 29 May. 2026.

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