Māl'a-cŏp'ter-ŷg'i-oŭs, a.

a. [Gr. μαλακός, soft, and πτέρυξ, wing, from πτερόν, feather, from πέτομαι, πέσθαι, to fly.] (Ichth.) Having fins whose rays, except the anterior ray of the pectoral and dorsal fins, are closely jointed, and not spiny;—said of certain kinds of fishes, as the carp, pike, salmon, shad, &c.