What does seabream mean?
Seabream denotes any of various marine fishes in the family Sparidae, a group that includes several important food fishes. The name is used both for the fish as an individual and, collectively, for seabream sold as food. It is especially common in menus and culinary writing, where it appears in preparations such as grilled, roasted, pan-seared, and whole. Although the term can be applied broadly, in British English it often refers to the fish also called common seabream. Seabream should not be confused with freshwater bream, which belongs to the carp family, or with snapper, a separate family of marine fishes. The word is useful because it identifies a recognizable category of edible fish while allowing regional and culinary variations in the particular species intended.
nounA marine fish belonging to the family Sparidae, many varieties of which are valued as food. The term may refer to the fish as an individual, to a type of fish, or collectively to it as a food.
- Any of various marine fishes of the family Sparidae, especially those commonly caught or farmed for food.
"The restaurant served grilled seabream with lemon and new potatoes."
"Fresh seabream was delivered to the market early that morning."
"She wrote in her notebook that grilled seabream was one of the best dishes of the holiday."
The standard plural is "seabreams," used when referring to multiple fish or varieties.
"The market sells several kinds of seabreams from different regions."
Seabream is not one fish but a whole family of marine species, many of them prized around the world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does seabream come from?
Seabream is an English compound formed from "sea" and the older fish-name "bream." The word "bream" is recorded in Old English and names a European freshwater fish; in seabream, that established fish-name is combined with "sea" to distinguish a marine fish of the sparid family. The related forms "goldbream," "red bream," and the spaced variant "sea bream" share the same bream element.
Related word forms
How seabream is actually used
Seabream is usually treated as a count noun when referring to the fish or its varieties, and as a mass noun when referring to it as food. The one-word form is standard in American English, while the two-word form "sea bream" is also widely used in British English.
Easily confused with seabream
Bream commonly refers to a freshwater fish of the carp family, whereas seabream refers to marine fishes of the sparid family.
Snapper is a different family of marine fishes, and the term does not normally identify the fishes called seabream.