Roe Meaning
/ˈɹəʊ/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounEggs of fish.
nounSperm of certain fish.
Sentence Examples
What she liked best was herring roe.
I don't understand why people like salmon roe.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chef prepared a dish using salmon ____, which are the eggs of the fish.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The chef garnished the dish with a spoonful of salmon ____ for a touch of luxury.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English rowe, rowne, roun, rawne, from Old English *hrogn (“spawn, fish eggs, roe”), from Proto-Germanic *hrugnaz, *hrugną (“spawn, roe”), from Proto-Indo-European *krek- (“(frog) spawn”). Cognate with Dutch roge (“roe”), German Low German Rögen (“roe”), German Rogen (“roe”), Danish rogn, ravn (“roe”), Swedish rom (“roe”), Icelandic hrogn (“roe”), Lithuanian kurkulai̇̃ (“frog spawn”), Russian кряк (krjak, “frog spawn”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was quite flavourless, except that, where its innards had been imperfectly removed, silver traces of roe gave it an unpleasant bitterness."
— 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 40:
"Today, some seafood experts say, the cheaper (though mushier) roe feeds 60 percent of the market."
— 2003 July 20, Jeffrey Gettleman, “Humble Paddlefish Fulfills Southerners' Caviar Dreams”, in The New York Times:
"And let his foes like flockes of feareful Roes,
Purſude by hunters, flie his angry lookes,
That I may ſee him iſſue Conquerour."
— c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
"The lofty mountains roſe faint to the ſight and loſt their foreheads in the diſtant ſkies: the little hills, cloathed in darker green and ſkirted with embroidered vales, diſcovered the ſecret haunts of kids and bounding roes."
— 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:
""[...] and we may, God willing, meet with a roe. The roe, Captain Waverley, may be hunted at all times alike; for never being in what is called pride of grease, he is also never out of season, though it be a truth that his venison is not equal to that of either the red or fallow deer. But he will serve to show how my dogs run [...]""
— 1814, Walter Scott, chapter 12, in Waverley:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chef prepared a dish using salmon ____, which are the eggs of the fish.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The chef garnished the dish with a spoonful of salmon ____ for a touch of luxury.