tiny fishes usually canned or salted; used for hors d'oeuvres or as seasoning in sauces
small herring-like plankton-eating fishes often canned whole or as paste; abundant in tropical waters worldwide
Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in 16 genera, of which the genus Engraulis is widely sold as food.
The word "anchovy" comes from the Spanish anchoa, which likely traces back to a Ligurian or Corsican dialect. Its ultimate origin remains uncertain, though it may derive from an ancient Greek word for a type of fish or possibly from a Basque term meaning "dried fish."