1. A fish of the genus Brevoortia found in the Northern Atlantic and Gulf waters, used mainly for fish oil but also for fertilizer and bait: "Sarah didn't know it, but the medicine she took for her eyes contained fish oil from the fish menhaden!"
2. Etymology: a combination of Narragansette, which is a kind of herring, similar to munnohquahteau and the Algonquian poghaden.