Where does “Fisher” come from?

Fisher derives from Old English fisċere, from Proto-Germanic fiskārijaz (one who catches fish), combining fiskaz (fish) and -ārijaz (agent suffix from Latin -arius).

Fisher (English): for a fisherman

Definitions

  1. for a fisherman

Ancestry of “Fisher”, step by step

Fisher traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English fischer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishfischerA fisher; A retailer or seller of fish or...
2Old Englishfisċerefisher
3Proto-Germanicfiskārijazfisher
4Proto-Germanicfiskazfish
5Indo-European*peysk-

via French fichet

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchfichetpolecat pelt
2DutchvisseEuropean polecat, "Mustela putorius"
3Middle Dutchvissepolecat; nasty
4Latinvissiowiesel; stench

Words derived from “Fisher

Every word from Indo-European *peysk-