What is "shad"

Shad \Shad\ (sh[a^]d), n. sing. & pl. [AS. sceadda a kind of fish, akin to Prov. G. schade; cf. Ir. & Gael. sgadan a herring, W. ysgadan herrings; all perhaps akin to E. skate a fish.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of food fishes of the Herring family. The American species ( Alosa sapidissima formerly Clupea sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The European allice shad, or alose ( Alosa alosa formerly Clupea alosa), and the twaite shad ( Alosa finta formerly Clupea finta), are less important species. [Written also chad.]

Note: The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed shad, and winter shad.

Hardboaded shad, or Yellow-tailed shad, the menhaden.

Hickory shad, or Tailor shad, the mattowacca.

Long-boned shad, one of several species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies, of the genus Gerres.

Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier ( A. Canadensis, and A. alnifolia) Their white racemose blossoms open in April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes) ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is also called service tree, and Juneberry.

Shad frog, an American spotted frog ( Rana halecina); -- so called because it usually appears at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers.

Trout shad, the squeteague.

White shad, the common shad.

Old English sceadd "shad," important food fish in the Atlantic, possibly from Scandinavian (Norwegian dialectal skadd "small whitefish"); but compare Welsh ysgadan (plural), Irish and Gaelic sgadan "herring." OED says Low German schade may be from English.\n

\nIts importance suggested by its use in forming the common names of U.S. East Coast plants and wildlife whose active period coincides with the running of the shad up rivers, such as shad-bird, shad-bush, shad-flower, shad-fly, shad-frog. From the shape of the fish comes shad-bellied, 1832 in reference to persons, "having little abdominal protuberance;" of coats (1842) "sloping apart in front, cut away," especially in reference to the characteristic garb of male Quakers.

n. Any one of several species of food fishes that comprise the genus ''Alosa'' in the family Clupeidae, to which the herrings also belong; (vern river herring pedia=1).

1. n. bony flesh of herring-like fish usually caught during their migration to fresh water for spawning; especially of Atlantic coast

2. herring-like food fishes that migrate from the sea to freshwater to spawn

Shadrach Kabango (born July 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Shad or Shad K., is a Canadian alternative hip hop recording artist and broadcaster. He was named as the new host of the CBC Radio One program q in March 2015.

Shad ( Old Turkic: , šad) was a state office in the early Central Asian Turkic states, roughly equivalent to governor. "Shad" could only be an appointee over a vassal tribe, where he represented interests of the preeminent Kagan. The name of this tribe was included in his title. For example, Tardu-shad could only be a Shad over Tardu tribe. The title carried autonomy in different degrees, and its links with the central authority of kagan varied from economical and political subordination to superficial political deference.

The position of Shad was traditionally given to the member of a ruling ( Ashina) clan. Frequently, Shad was a blood prince, a representative of the next generation. Mahmud Kashgari defined the title Shad as an heir apparent a step above Yabgu. In the early Turkic Turgesh Kaganate, Shad was a ruler of the east wing, and Yabgu was a ruler of the west wing of the state, both directly subordinated to the Kagan. According to Movses Kagankatvatsi, Böri Shad was a 7th-century Western Turkic Khaganate prince and an ishad, or a ruler of a principality, a nephew of Tong Yabgu Kagan, and a son of Moho shad, who may have been a Yabgu of the Khazars. Later, after a split of Western Turkic Kaganate, the splinter western part was headed by Yukuk-shad of the royal Ashina clan, who became a Kagan of the "western surnames", with a throne name Yelbi-Turuk-Kagan.

With weakening of centralized states, the Shads were gaining more sovereignty, and historical accounts record independent states with "Shad" as a supreme ruler. The title "Shad" left prominent marks in the Asian toponymy, and on many mints of Middle Asia Late Antique and Early Middle Age coins, like Shad Bagh in northern Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan, and early Bukhara, Uzbekistan coins.

A name of one Shad in the waning days of the Eastern Turkic Kaganate is interpreted as an evidence of an early penetration of the Sunni branch of Islam to the Central Asian people. When the last Kagan Illig Qaghan suffered a defeat from the Tang ( Toba, Tabgach) empire in 630 CE, the Chinese annals recorded that after that surrendered his last loyal prince, Yshbara Shunishi-Shad, and the Eastern Türkic Kaganate ceased to exist. Yshbara Shunishi-Shad was a head of the Basmyl tribe, and as indicated by his name, he was a Sunni.

A shad is a herring-like fish of the subfamily Alosinae, particularly of the genus Alosa.

Shad may also refer to: