Where does “snailfish” come from?

snailfish (English) comes from English Fish, from Old English fiscian, from Proto-West Germanic fiskōn, from Proto-Germanic fiskōną, from Proto-Germanic -ōną, from Proto-Indo-European -eh₂yéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé- — he, she.

snailfish (English): Any member of the Liparidae, a family of...

Definitions

  1. Any member of the Liparidae, a family of...

Ancestry of “snailfish”, step by step

snailfish traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Fish

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFishThe constellation and zodiacal sign Pisces
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

via English snail

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsnailAny of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell
2Middle EnglishsnaylA snail or slug; a gastropod
3Old Englishsneġela snail or slug, a gastropod
4Proto-Germanicsnagilazsnail
Every word from Chichewa iye