Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fisherman” come from?

Fisherman is formed from Middle English man, derived from Proto-Germanic mann-, combined with the agent suffix -arius from Latin, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European h₂ep-.

fisherman (English): A fisher, a person engaged in fishing; A vessel ...

Definitions

  1. A fisher, a person engaged in fishing; A vessel ...

Ancestry of “fisherman”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFisher—
2Middle EnglishfischerA fisher; A retailer or seller of fish or...
3Old Englishfisċerefisher
4Proto-Germanicfiskārijazfisher
5Proto-Germanicfiskazfish
6Indo-European*peysk-—

Words derived from “fisherman”

  • flyfisherman
  • sportfisherman
  • spearfisherman
  • shellfisherman
Every word from Indo-European *peysk- →