Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}. [This word is properly
   aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture
   of maize in America, ``Phil Trans.'' No. 142, p. 1065, and
   Baddam's ``Memoirs,'' vol. ii. p. 131.] (Zo["o]l.)
   A North American fish ({Clupea vernalis}) of the Herring
   family. It is called also {ellwife}, {ellwhop}, {branch
   herring}. The name is locally applied to other related
   species.