Etymograph

English

fishen

Fishen comes from Middle English fisshen ‘fishlike’, from Old English fiscian ‘to fish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to paint, mark’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-‘to paint, mark’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pisk-ó-s‘fish’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fiskaz‘fish’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fiskōną‘to fish, to catch fish’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fiscian‘to fish’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fisshen‘fishlike’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1592fishen

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-‘to paint, mark’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pisk-ó-s‘fish’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fiskaz‘fish’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fiskōną‘to fish, to catch fish’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fiscian‘to fish’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fisshen‘fishlike’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1592fishen

Earliest quotation: 1592, Francesco Colonna, Robert Dallington: “From betwixt their shoulders grewe their winges like Ha[r]pies,…”

Formed from fish + -en

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

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to paint, mark’

picture, paint, file, pint, feud, depiction, depict, pictorial, pigment, pimento, piscina, 26 more

Today it means

adj Relating to or characteristic of a fish; fishlike

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- / fishen

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