gudgeon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small freshwater fish; a gullible person; a pivot pin

   He felt like a gudgeon for falling for such an obvious trick.

From Old French goujon, from Latin gōbiō, gōbiōnem ('gudgeon, small fish'), from Ancient Greek kōbiós ('gudgeon, goby'). The 'pivot pin' sense is a separate Old French borrowing of the same form.

Topics