Where does “jellyfish” come from?

Jellyfish comes from English jelly and English fish, with jelly from French gelée, from Latin gēlāta, the feminine past participle of gēlāre meaning to freeze.

jellyfish (English): An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of...

Definitions

  1. An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of...

Ancestry of “jellyfish”, step by step

jellyfish traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Fish

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFishThe constellation and zodiacal sign Pisces
2Middle EnglishfischAn animal that inhabits the water or the meat of...
3Old Englishfisċfish
4Proto-West Germanicfiskfish

via English jelly

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishjellyA dessert made by boiling gelatine, sugar and...
2Middle EnglishgeleA jelly made from the stock of meats or a meal it...

Words derived from “jellyfish

Every word from Proto-West Germanic fisk