Etymograph

English

catfish

From cat + fish.

A compound of cat + fish

Proto-Germanic *kattuz

Proto-West Germanic *kattu

Old English catt ‘male cat’

Middle English cat ‘cat’

English cat

Proto-Indo-European *piskós

Proto-Germanic *fiskaz

Proto-West Germanic *fisk

Old English fisċ

Middle English fisch ‘an animal that inhabits the water or the meat…’

English fish

The story

Likely so named for its prominent barbels like a cat's whiskers.

Today it means

noun Any fish of the order Siluriformes, mainly found in fresh water, lacking scales, and having barbels like whiskers around the mouth.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / catfish