I. ˈāl-ˌwīf noun
Date: 15th century
: a woman who keeps an alehouse
II. noun
( plural ale·wives -ˌwīvz)
Etymology: perhaps alteration of obsolete allowes, a kind of shad, from French alose shad, from Old French, from Late Latin alausa
Date: 1633
: a food fish ( Alosa pseudoharengus ) of the herring family that is very abundant along the Atlantic coast ; also : any of several related fishes (as the menhaden)