Meaning

noun valuable flesh of fatty fish from shallow waters of northern Atlantic or Pacific; usually salted or pickled

noun commercially important food fish of northern waters of both Atlantic and Pacific

originFrom Middle English hering, from Old English hǣring, from Proto-West Germanic *hāring (“herring”), further etymology unknown. Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”) + -ing, due to the similarity of their fine bones to hair. Cognate with Scots hering, haring (“herring”), Saterland Frisian Hiering, Häiring (“herring”), West Frisian hjerring (“herring”), Dutch haring (“herring”), German…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0