Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fishing” come from?

Fishing derives from English fish combined with the English suffix -ing, with fish tracing to Old French fiche and ultimately Proto-Indo-European pisḱ-.

fishing (English): The act of catching fish; The act of catching...

Definitions

  1. The act of catching fish; The act of catching...

Ancestry of “fishing”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFish—
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

Words derived from “fishing”

  • phishing
  • sportfishing
  • spearfishing
  • electrofishing
  • antiphishing
  • nonfishing
  • rodfishing
  • sportsfishing
  • antifishing
  • phishing
  • antiphishing
  • phishing
Every word from Chichewa iye →