English
shark
Shark comes from Middle English shark.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shark
- Englishearliest quotation 1569same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shark
- Englishearliest quotation 1569same form
Earliest quotation: 1569, The true discripcion of this marueilous , M.D.lxix.: “The straunge fishe is in length xvij. foote and…”
The story
From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish), of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (‘scoundrel’), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English. Its name in Old English is unknown, although some uses of the word hranfisċ that do not appear to carry the sense of "whale" may have been referencing it.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Every English word from Middle English shark
Another origin of shark
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050scurgen
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350schurgen‘to shove, push, egg on’
- Germanc. 1650–presentSchurke‘scoundrel’
- Englishtodayshark
Today it means
noun Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English shark / shark