Etymograph

English

fisher

Fisher comes from Middle English fischer ‘a fisher’, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz ‘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*fiskārijazreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fisċere
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fischer‘a fisher’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2021fisher

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*fiskārijazreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fisċere
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fischer‘a fisher’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2021fisher

Earliest quotation: 2021, The Road Ahead, Brisbane: “The fishers who live here left for the mainland…”

Formed from fish + -er

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, pigment, pictorial, pimento, piscina, 26 more

Another origin of fisher

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentvisse‘nasty’uncertain
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentfichet‘polecat pelt’
  3. Englishtodayfisher

From French fichet (‘polecat pelt’), probably from Dutch visse (‘nasty’); modified by folk etymology to resemble Etymology 1.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Today it means

noun A person who catches fish, especially for a living or for sport; a person engaging in the pastime of fishing.

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

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

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