Where does “leatherfish” come from?
leatherfish (English) comes from English leather, from English stocking, from English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną — smoke; mist, haze.
Ancestry of “leatherfish”, step by step
leatherfish traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English leather
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | leather | A tough material produced from the skin of... |
| 2 | English | stocking | A soft garment, usually knit or woven, worn on... |
| 3 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 4 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 5 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 6 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 9 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 10 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English Fish
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Fish | The constellation and zodiacal sign Pisces |
| 2 | Old English | fiscian | to fish |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | fiskōn | to fish, to catch fish |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | fiskōną | to fish, to catch fish |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ōną | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |