Where does “starfish” come from?
Starfish is a compound of star and fish, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European h₂stḗr meaning star.
starfish (English): Any of various asteroids or other echinoderms ...
Definitions
- Any of various asteroids or other echinoderms ...
Ancestry of “starfish”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Fish | — |
| 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 |
Words derived from “starfish”