Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1835, 1887-1934
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
SKELLY, n. Also skellie. The chub, Squalius cephalus (Rxb. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 XVI. 75; Dmf. 1892 Annals Sc. Nat. Hist. I. 21; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Also in n.Eng. dial. where it is applied also to the fresh-water herring. [′skɛle]Dmf. 1835 T. T. Stoddart Art Angling 149:
Chub, or as it is called there, the skelly.s.Sc. 1887 Fishing Gazette (2 July) 3:
Skellies frae Archerbeck Burn.Dmf. 1934 Glasgow Herald (21 June) 4:
The capture of that 5 lb. “skellie”.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Skelly n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/skelly_n>
