"fish eggs," mid-15c., probably from an unrecorded Old English *hrogn, from Proto-Germanic *khrugna (cf. Old Norse hrogn, Danish rogn, Swedish rom, Flemish rog, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch roge, Old High German rogo, German Rogen "roe"), from PIE *krek- "frog spawn, fish eggs" (cf. Lithuanian kurkle, Russian krjak "spawn of frogs"). Exact relations of the Germanic words are uncertain.
"small deer," Old English ra, from raha, from Proto-Germanic *raikhaz (cf. Old Norse ra, Old Saxon reho, Middle Dutch and Dutch ree, Old High German reh, German Reh "roe"), of uncertain origin; perhaps from PIE root *rei- "streaked, spotted, striped in various colors."
(Heb. tsebi), properly the gazelle (Arab. ghazal), permitted for food (Deut. 14:5; comp. Deut. 12:15, 22; 15:22; 1 Kings 4:23), noted for its swiftness and beauty and grace of form (2 Sam. 2:18; 1 Chr. 12:8; Cant. 2:9; 7:3; 8:14). The gazelle (Gazella dorcas) is found in great numbers in Palestine. "Among the gray hills of Galilee it is still 'the roe upon the mountains of Bether,' and I have seen a little troop of gazelles feeding on the Mount of Olives close to Jerusalem itself" (Tristram). The Hebrew word ('ayyalah) in Prov. 5: 19 thus rendered (R.V., "doe"), is properly the "wild she-goat," the mountain goat, the ibex. (See 1 Sam. 24:2; Ps. 104:18; Job 39:1.)
either the mass of eggs of a female fish (hard roe) or the mass of sperm, or milt, of a male fish (soft roe), considered as food. The most prized of hard roes is that of the sturgeon, from which caviar (q.v.) is made. The eggs of a number of fish are eaten, often after having been salted or smoked. Smoked cod roe is popular in Great Britain; tarama, salted carp roe, is the base of taramasalata, a Greek appetizer spread. Soft roes can be poached or sauteed and are sometimes served as hors d'oeuvres or light entrees. Other fish roes especially prized are those of herring, mackerel, mullet, salmon, shad, and sole. Sea urchin roe is a local delicacy of coastal areas, eaten raw or lightly cooked.