Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “phishing” come from?

Phishing is a blend of English fish and English pandemic, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European pisḱ- and h₂ep-.

phishing (English): The malicious act of keeping a false website or...

Definitions

  1. The malicious act of keeping a false website or...

Ancestry of “phishing”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfishingThe act of catching fish; The act of catching...
2EnglishFish—
3Old Englishfiscianto fish
4Proto-West Germanicfiskōnto fish, to catch fish
5Proto-Germanicfiskōnąto fish, to catch fish
6Proto-Germanic-ōnąCreates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates...
7Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
8Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
9Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
10Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “phishing”

  • antiphishing
  • phishing
  • antiphishing
  • phishing
Every word from Chichewa iye →