catfish

Etymology

It is a compound from English cat + fish.^[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster says it was named for the catlike look of the fish's head,^[5] and Johnson, following Phillips, for the West Indian sea-fish's round head and large glaring eyes.^[6] Etymonline thinks it was first given to the Atlantic wolffish, for its ferocity, and to the North American freshwater fish by the 1690s, probably for its whiskers or for a purring noise it is said to make when taken out of the water.^[3] The sense "a person who deceives with a false online persona" comes from the 2010 film “Catfish” and the television show of the same name that followed it from 2012.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A name for various fishes, especially the wolffish: 1620, in John Mason's Briefe Discourse of New-found-land.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1612,^[5] Etymonline to the 1610s,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1605–15.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The name passed from the wolffish to several North American freshwater fishes,^[2][3] and is now used for any of the many scaleless, mostly freshwater fishes with whisker-like barbels.^[7][5] From 1678 it was also a name for the cuttlefish.^[2] In 19th-century American slang a catfish was an unpleasant person, from the fish's unattractive looks.^[8] The film “Catfish” (2010) took its title from an anecdote in which a catfish put into a tank of live cod keeps the cod active on the way to market;^[3] Etymonline says the story has no basis in fact, but it was used in sermons from the 1920s and appeared in print in 1913.^[3] The noun for a person who deceives others online with an invented persona, and the verb, are both recorded from 2010;^[2] Etymonline dates the verb to 2013.^[3] The verb had earlier meant simply to fish for catfish (1873).^[2]

Timeline

• 1612 – a name for various fishes.^[5] The OED's first record is from 1620.^[2]
• 1678 – the cuttlefish.^[2]
• 1690s – the North American freshwater fish.^[3]
• 1856 – American slang, an unpleasant person.^[8]
• 1873 – verb, to fish for catfish.^[2]
• 2010 – a person who deceives with a false online persona; verb, to deceive someone in this way.^[2] Etymonline dates the verb to 2013.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of many scaleless, mostly freshwater fishes of the order Siluriformes, with whisker-like barbels around the mouth.^[7][5][2]
2. The wolffish, or another sea fish given the name.^[2][3]
3. (colloquial) A person who uses a false online identity to deceive someone, especially to draw them into a romantic relationship.^[2][8]

Verb

1. (colloquial) To deceive someone online with a false identity: He was catfished by a stranger he met on a dating site.^[2][3]
2. To fish for catfish.^[2]

Word family

• mudcat

Related words

• cat
• fish

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com