What does cisco mean?
The cisco is a slender, silvery freshwater fish native to the cold lakes of northern North America, most famously the Great Lakes, where it has long been known as the lake herring despite belonging to the whitefish group rather than the true herrings. A member of the genus Coregonus within the salmon family, the cisco feeds on small planktonic creatures in open water and historically formed enormous schools that supported a thriving commercial fishery throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Smoked cisco was a beloved regional delicacy, and the species remains prized by anglers, though populations have declined due to overfishing, habitat change, and competition from introduced species. Outside North America the word is little known, but within the Great Lakes region it carries strong cultural and culinary associations, evoking smokehouses, winter nets, and generations of fishing families.
nounA freshwater whitefish (Coregonus artedi) of the Great Lakes and other northern North American lakes, also called the lake herring. It is an important food fish, often smoked.
- The lake cisco (Coregonus artedi), a silvery freshwater whitefish of northern North American lakes, valued as food and often sold smoked.
"The fishermen pulled in a net full of cisco from Lake Superior at dawn."
"Smoked cisco was once a staple breakfast dish in towns around the Great Lakes."
"Declining water clarity has hurt cisco populations across their range."
Both 'ciscoes' and 'ciscos' are accepted plurals, with 'ciscoes' more traditional in fisheries literature.
"The trawl brought up hundreds of ciscoes from the depths of Lake Michigan."
The cisco isn't actually a herring at all — it just borrowed the name, and for decades it was the backbone of the Great Lakes commercial fishing industry.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cisco
The word cisco entered English through North American usage in the early nineteenth century, adopted by settlers and traders around the Great Lakes. Its ultimate origin is uncertain but is generally believed to derive from an Algonquian-language source, transmitted via French-Canadian fur traders who worked extensively among the region's Indigenous peoples. The name was later extended to several closely related deepwater whitefish species of the same lakes.
How cisco is actually used
Primarily used in North America, especially around the Great Lakes; unfamiliar to most speakers elsewhere. The name is applied both to Coregonus artedi specifically and, more loosely, to related deepwater ciscoes of the genus Coregonus.
Easily confused with cisco
Despite being called 'lake herring,' the cisco is not a true herring but a member of the salmon family's whitefish group.