Etymologically
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fisherman

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 11:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈfɪʃ.ə.mən/[1]
  • US: /ˈfɪʃ.ɚ.mən/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English fisher + man.[2][3][4][5][6] fisher, a fisherman, is from Old English fiscere, an agent noun from fish,[3] and Etymonline suggests that fisherman arose because fisher had begun to be used of certain animals.[3] The OED notes that the surnames “Fisserman” (1203) and “Fissherman” (1335) may point to earlier use, though they may also have named the servant of a fisher.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who catches fish for a living or for pleasure: 1441, in a case in the court of Chancery.[2] Dictionary.com dates the late Middle English fissherman to 1400–50, and Etymonline gives the 1520s.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1589 to the 20th century the word also meant a fishing boat;[2][4] from 1634 it was also used of an animal that catches fish.[2] Shakespeare's King Lear has the fishermen on the beach that look like mice, quoted by Johnson (1755).[6] In the oil industry, from 1879, a fisherman was a worker skilled in recovering objects dropped into a borehole.[2] In Cumberland the fisherman's nightingale was the sedge warbler.[8]

Timeline

  • 1203 – the surname “Fisserman”.[2]
  • 1441 – a person who catches fish.[2]
  • 1589 – a fishing boat.[2]
  • 1634 – an animal that catches fish.[2]
  • 1879 – a worker who recovers objects from a borehole.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who catches fish for a living or for sport; an angler: The fishermen were mending their nets on the quay.[4][9][2]
  2. A boat used for fishing, especially commercially.[4][9][2]
  3. An animal that catches fish for food.[2]

Word family

  • nonfisherman
  • spearfisherman
  • sportfisherman

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins