Where does “filefish” come from?

filefish (English) comes from English Fish, from Old English fiscian, from Proto-West Germanic fiskōn, from Proto-Germanic fiskōną, from Proto-Germanic -ōną, from Proto-Indo-European -eh₂yéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé- — he, she.

filefish (English): Any fish of the family Monacanthidae, with very...

Definitions

  1. Any fish of the family Monacanthidae, with very...

Ancestry of “filefish”, step by step

filefish traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Fish

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFishThe constellation and zodiacal sign Pisces
2Old Englishfiscianto fish
3Proto-West Germanicfiskōnto fish, to catch fish
4Proto-Germanicfiskōnąto fish, to catch fish
5Proto-Germanic-ōnąCreates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates...
6Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
7Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
8Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-
9Chichewaiyehe, she

via English filé

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfiléA spicy herb made from the dried and ground...
2Frenchfilépast participle of filer; simple or twisted...
3Frenchfilerto spin; to thread through; to spin a thread
4Latinfīlāre
5Latinfīlumthread, string, filament, fiber
6Proto-Italicfī(s)lom
7Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷʰiH-(s-)lo-
Every word from Chichewa iye