chum salmon

noun

1. a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus keta, occurring from southern California to Alaska and off the coasts of Japan and Korea, fished commercially and for sport.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chum salmon¹

First recorded in 1905–10; chum, from Chinook Jargon cam “mixed colors, spotted, striped,” from Lower Chinook c'ə́m(·) “variegated”