Where does “рыба-пила” come from?

рыба-пила (Russian) comes from Russian пила́, from Proto-Slavic pila, from Old High German fil — file.

рыба-пила (Russian): sawfish (Pristidae spp.)

Definitions

  1. sawfish (Pristidae spp.)

Ancestry of “рыба-пила”, step by step

рыба-пила traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Russian пила́

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Russianпила́saw
2Proto-Slavicpilasaw, file
3Old High Germanfilfile

via Russian ры́ба

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Russianры́баfish
Every word from Old High German fil →Every word from Proto-Slavic pila →Every word from Russian пила́ →