mossyback

English

Etymology

From mossy +‎ back (in sense 2 (“person who stayed hidden to evade conscription during the American Civil War”) probably a variant of mossback, which is attested earlier),[1] alluding to someone or something that is so old or has remained so unmoving that it is as if moss has grown on them or it.

Sense 3.2 (“menhaden”) may be influenced by mossbunker.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

mossyback (plural mossybacks) (chiefly US)

  1. (informal) A person with old-fashioned views; hence, one who is very conservative or reactionary; a mossback.
    Synonyms: conservative, reactionary, retrograde, traditionalist
  2. (informal, historical, obsolete) Synonym of mossback (“a person who stayed hidden to evade conscription (especially by the Confederate States Army) during the American Civil War (1861–1865)”)
  3. Senses relating to animals.
    1. (fishing, obsolete) A fish that is large and old, especially one that has algae growing on its back; a mossback.
    2. (obsolete) The menhaden, mossbanker, or mossbunker, a marine fish of the genus Brevoortia or Ethmidium.

Derived terms
  • mossybacked, mossy-backed

Translations
person who stayed hidden to evade conscription during the American Civil War — see mossback
marine fish of the genus Brevoortia or Ethmidium — see menhaden

References
  1. “mossyback, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2018; “mossyback, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
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