sturgeon n.

c. 1300, from Anglo-French sturgeon, Old French esturjon, from Frankish *sturjo- or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *sturjon- (source also of Old High German sturio "sturgeon," Old English styria). Cognate with Lithuanian erškėtras, Russian osetr "sturgeon;" the whole group is of obscure origin, perhaps from a lost pre-Indo-European tongue of northern Europe, or from the root of stir (v.). Medieval Latin sturio, Italian storione, Spanish esturion are Germanic loan-words. A much-esteemed fish in ancient Greece, a costly luxury in Rome.