Tun"ny (?), n.; pl. Tunnies (#). [L. thunnus, thynnus, Gr. , : cf. It. tonno, F. & Pr. thon.] Zool.
Any one of several species of large oceanic fishes belonging to the Mackerel family, especially the common or great tunny (Orcynus ∨ Albacora thynnus) native of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It sometimes weighs a thousand pounds or more, and is extensively caught in the Mediterranean. On the American coast it is called horse mackerel. See Illust. of Horse mackerel, under Horse.
[Written also thynny
The little tunny (Gymnosarda alletterata) of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the long-finned tunny, or albicore (see Albicore), are related species of smaller size.
© Webster 1913.