Home › Words › P › pilchardpilchard/ˈpɪl.tʃəd/pilchard means any of various small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae.pilchard is pronounced /ˈpɪl.tʃəd/.EtymologyFrom earlier pilcher, adapted to the suffix -ard. Further etymology unknown. Compare Dutch pelser.nounAny of various small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae.e.g.“1839, John Hookham Frere (translator), The Birds, lines 76–77, in Acharnians and two other plays He longs occasionally for human diet, His old Athenian fare: pilchards, for instance.”Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).