1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 197^v Wyld plantes..which I haue not seene but in the Ilande of Hispaniola... These they caule Tunas. They growe of a thistle full of thornes, and brynge foorth a frute muche lyke vnto great fygges.

1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) viii. vii. 774 A kind of fruit called Tune, of the bignes of an egge, black and of good tast.

a1715 N. Tate tr. A. Cowley Of Plants v, in A. Cowley Wks. (1721) III. 411 The Tuna to the Indian-Fig a kin, (The Glory of Tlascalla) next came in.

1772 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S. Amer. (ed. 3) I. 325 The leaf of the tuna being broad, flat, and prickly.

1852 T. Ross tr. A. von Humboldt Personal Narr. Trav. Amer. I. 328 The following are Haytian words, in their real form, which have passed into the Castilian language since the end of the 15th century... Tuna.]

1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 818 Tuna is a Spanish-American name given to several Opuntias, but botanists have adopted it as the..name of a single species, O. Tuna, a native..from Quito to Mexico and the West Indies.

1911 Dundee Advertiser 12 Apr. 12/1 San Luis Potosi had long been the great tuna cheese market of Mexico... The cheese is made by simply boiling and straining the tuna pulp until the proper consistency is reached.

1748 tr. P. Lozano True Relation Earthquake Lima iii. 210 These they call Higas de Tuna, or Tuna Figs.

1912 R. B. C. Graham in Eng. Rev. May 229 The great trumpet-shaped and dark red fleshy tuna flowers.

1881 Proc. U.S. National Mus. 4 45 Another Orcynus, known as the ‘tuna’, exists about Santa Cruz Island.

1900 Westm. Gaz. 29 June 8/1 The tuna, one of the gamest fighting fish for its size in the sea.

1901 Field 23 Nov. 812/2 There is no doubt whatever as to the identity of the horse mackerel of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the tuna of Catalina, and the thon, thuna, or tunny of the Mediterranean.

1911 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 63/2 My Californian friends might well possess their disappointed souls in patience if there were any promise of such compensation..for the loss of the tuna.

1949 Manch. Guardian Weekly 24 Mar. 11/2 Water you can't swim in, and good tuna and jacks you can't eat.

1970 Nature 19 Dec. 1141/2 Tuna is a fisheries term for the larger tunny species.

1901 McClure's Mag. Feb. 370/1 Vincente..is just taking the tuna bait from his gill-nets.

1968 National Fisherman July 18- c/2 Much squid was used for tuna bait.

1903 C. F. Holder Big Game Fishes iv. 59 The tuna boats of Catalina Island are designed for the purpose.

1956 Fishery Bull. 57 195/1 (heading) Grounds fished by tuna boats operating in the Inner South Seas.

1919 Pacific Fisherman Yearbk. 64/2 The tuna fishermen return to port each evening.

1901 McClure's Mag. Feb. 370/1 The rods and reels in tuna fishing are of the finest description.

1926 G. Frankau My Unsentimental Journey xvii. 222 His hobby—he told me at once—is tuna-fishing.

1980 Times 4 Nov. 18/4 [In Peru] tuna fishing..has now virtually ended.

1932 M. Miller I cover Waterfront xvii. 97 The only people who know of him are the two men who live on the island and the crews and skippers of the tuna fleet.

1968 National Fisherman Apr. 2- a/2 Commander, a steel hulled, 20-year-old veteran of the Southern California tuna fleet, sank off Mexico.

1923 A. Ward Encycl. Food 537 Very little tuna meat is sold fresh in our markets.

1951 Tressler & Lemon Marine Products of Commerce (ed. 2) xx. 448 A machine for molding blocks of tuna meat the exact size for the can is in operation in some canneries.

1922 Pacific Fisherman May 43/1 Prominent tuna packers.

1967 Commerc. Fisheries Rev. Nov. 64/2 Japanese tuna packers..switched from fruit canning to tuna packing in September.

1922 Pacific Fisherman May 43/1 Mr. Ambrose was one of the organizers of the first tuna packing plant in California.

1953 Special Sci. Rep. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fisheries) No. 104. 32 [Chunk tuna] was especially suited to the preparation of tuna salads.

1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) xiii. 32/2 He left Fred's, absent-mindedly leaving her to pay for his tuna salad special.

1957 Heseltine & Dow New Basic Cook Bk. 718 (heading) Tuna sandwiches.

1977 C. McCarry Secret Lovers iii. 42 The passenger compartment of the BMW smelled..of bay rum, Brylcreem, tuna sandwiches.

1930 Pacific Fisherman Apr. 41/1 In search of distant tuna schools.

1967 Trans. Amer. Fisheries Soc. 96 127/1 Purse seines capture only about half the number of tuna schools upon which they are set.

1929 Pacific Fisherman Sept. 39/1 The 100-ft tuna clipper ‘Enterprise’ was driven ashore.

1970 National Fisherman Sept. 1- b/2 A tuna clipper is a vessel equipped to carry small fish alive for use as bait; capable of being trimmed in such a way as to bring her stern rail as low as possible in the water; and fitted with a system which permits her to hold her catch for long periods of time.

1917 M. Green Better Meals xvi. 130 (heading) Tuna fish salad.

1922 Guardian 27 June 6/2 Tinned goods..are the most suitable for storing... 1 tin ‘tuna’ fish or crayfish.

1978 Amer. Poetry Rev. Nov. 16/3 To a tunafish gray on a bruised, greenish blue.

1982 J. Gardner For Special Services viii. 64 Tuna fish sandwiches were hardly Bond's style.

1843 E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. II. iii. 389/2 Tuna, eel.

1851 J. C. Richmond Let. 25 Mar. in Richmond–Atkinson Papers (1960) I. ii. 79 They set off..to catch crawfish & tuna, the eels of the country.

1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. Tuna, the common eel..of New Zealand.

1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. at Eel New Zealand Eels... Tuna E[el], Anguilla aucklandii.

1966 Encycl. N.Z. I. 565/1 These are the common freshwater eels called tuna by the Maoris.