ICHTHYOPHAGOUS/ɪkθɪˈɒfəɡəs/
Fish-eating.
A student of the classical languages would spot the meaning of this word instantly, since it derives from Greek ikhthus, a fish, plus phagein, to eat, plus the English adjective ending -ous. It has its proper place in biology, where an animal would be so described if fish formed a significant part of its diet.
It may with equal seriousness be transferred to human individuals and populations who subsist similarly, though if you’re not careful it comes out sounding irretrievably pompous, as in this comment from The Manufacturer and Builder of New York City in 1876: “We find that the ichthyophagous class are especially strong, healthy, and prolific”. Eating fish is good for you. Henry Mayhew, in his London Labour and the London Poor, borrowed it for the purpose of elegant variation when he wrote in the 1850s that “Of sprats there are 3,000,000 lbs. weight consumed — and these, with the addition of plaice, are the staple comestibles at the dinners and suppers of the ichthyophagous part of the labouring population of London”.
We moderns eschew polysyllabic pomposities in favour of simple English equivalents, so it’s not seen as often as it once was.
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