Where does “sternpicker” come from?

sternpicker (English) comes from English Stern, from English tern, from Middle English terne, from Old French terne, from Latin ternas, from Latin terni, from Latin ter, from Latin terr.

sternpicker (English): A gillnet boat that deploys the net from the stern of the boat

Definitions

  1. A gillnet boat that deploys the net from the stern of the boat

Ancestry of “sternpicker”, step by step

sternpicker traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Stern

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishSternHaving a hardness and severity of nature or manner
2EnglishternAny of various sea birds of the family Sternidae...
3Middle Englishterne
4Old Frenchternedull, dim
5Latinternasaccusative feminine plural of terni
6Latinternithree each; three at a time
7Latinterthrice
8Latinterr
9Old Latintris
10Proto-Italictrēsthree
11Proto-Indo-European*tréyes

via English picker

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpickerAgent noun of pick; one who picks; Any user...
2Yiddishפּיקןpeck
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes