Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1892, gefüllte Fisch, not a species but a loaf made from various kinds of ground fish and other ingredients; the first word is from Yiddish, from German gefüllte "stuffed."
Wiktionary
n. A dish of stuffed fish, or of fish cakes in broth.
WordNet
n. well-seasoned balls of ground fish and eggs and crushed crumbs simmered in fish stock [syn: fish ball]
Wikipedia
Gefilte fish (; from , "stuffed fish", cognate with German: Gefüllter Fisch) in is an Ashkenazi Jewish dish made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish, such as carp, whitefish, or pike, which is typically eaten as an appetizer.
Although the dish historically consisted of a minced-fish forcemeat stuffed inside the fish skin, as its name implies, since the 19th century the skin has commonly been omitted and the seasoned fish is formed into patties similar to quenelles or fish balls. They are popular on Shabbat and holidays such as Passover, although they may be consumed throughout the year.
Usage examples of "gefilte fish".
Arriving mainly from eastern Europe in the early twentieth century, these immigrants favored rich, fatty foods, such as lox, bagels, and gefilte fish.
Traditionally, housewives prepared chulent (a meat stew) gefilte fish, cakes, cookies and breads.
It he failed to aid Big Patsy, Wallace Gefilte Fish, and The Kerry Pig in making good their escape from the Constabulary, the three would beyond doubt find an occasion to tread and trample him into the consistency of a creole gumbo, even if they had to break stir to do it.
Every Jewish family had to have gefilte fish and chicken for the Sabbath dinner, no matter what they ate the rest of the week.
Alicja Cohen, eating gefilte fish hungrily, waved one of Bloom's forks under her daughter's nose.
He calms them down, talks for a while, eats some gefilte fish and a little bread, shakes them all by the hand - and vanishes.
The man had all the personality and spontaneity of an overaged cake of warm gefilte fish.