Etymograph

English

shellfish

Shellfish comes from Middle English schellefyssch, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *skaljafiskaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaljafiskazreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċielfisċ
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schellefyssch
  4. Englishtodayshellfish

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaljafiskazreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċielfisċ
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schellefyssch
  4. Englishtodayshellfish

A compound of shell + fish

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut, split’

Proto-Germanic *skaljō ‘shell, husk’

Proto-West Germanic *skallju

Old English sċiell

Middle English schelle

English shell

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

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *skaljafiskaz

Today it means

noun A fisheries and colloquial term for an aquatic invertebrate having an inner or outer shell, such as a mollusc or crustacean, especially when edible.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *skaljafiskaz / shellfish

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