tile·fish (t?l?f?sh?)n. pl. tilefish or tile·fish·es Any of various chiefly marine fishes of the family Malacanthidae, especially Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, a reddish-blue food fish of deep Atlantic waters, having a fleshy flap on the nape and small yellow spots on the upper sides and fins.[tile- (short for New Latin Lopholatilus, genus name : Greek lophos, crest, fin + New Latin latilus, diminutive of latus, a kind of perch, from Greek latos) + fish.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.tilefish (?ta?l?f??) n, pl -fish or -fishes (Animals) a large brightly coloured deep-sea percoid food fish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, of warm and tropical seas, esp the North American coast of the Atlantic: family Branchiostegidae[C19: from New Latin -tilus, ending of genus name Lopholatilus; perhaps also from a resemblance between its colours and patterning and ornamental tiles]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014tile?fish (?ta?l?f??) n., pl. (esp. collectively) -fish, (esp. for kinds or species) -fish?es. 1. a large, brilliantly colored food fish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, of deep Atlantic waters, having a flap on the head. 2. any of several related fishes. [1880?85, Amer.] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.