English

mackerel sky

From mackerel + sky.

A compound of mackerel + sky

Old French maquerel ‘mackerel (fish)’

Middle English mackerell

Proto-Germanic *skiwô ‘cloud cover, haze’

Proto-Germanic *skiwją ‘cloud; sky’

Old Norse ský ‘cloud; (plural) sky’

Middle English sky ‘sky; cloud’

English sky

Today it means

noun A sky filled with a regular pattern of altocumulus clouds somewhat resembling the skin of a mackerel.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / mackerel sky