Where does “Walfisch” come from?

Walfisch (German) comes from West Frisian walfisk, from West Frisian fisk, from Old Frisian fisk, from Proto-West Germanic fisk, from Proto-Germanic fiskaz, from Indo-European *peysk-.

Walfisch (German): whale

Definitions

  1. whale

Ancestry of “Walfisch”, step by step

Walfisch traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via West Frisian walfisk

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1West Frisianwalfiskwhale
2West Frisianfiskfish
3Old Frisianfisk—
4Proto-West Germanicfiskfish
5Proto-Germanicfiskazfish
6Indo-European*peysk-—

via Proto-Germanic hwalaz

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanichwalazwhale, sheatfish
2Proto-Indo-European(s)kʷáloslarge fish; sheatfish

Words derived from “Walfisch”

Every word from Indo-European *peysk- →Every word from Proto-Germanic fiskaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic fisk →