Etymologically
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fishery

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈfɪʃəɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English fish + -ery,[2][3][4][5][6] and partly from English fisher + -y, as the OED and the Shorter Oxford also explain it.[2][5] Johnson derived it from fisher.[7] The OED compares Middle Low German vischerīe, Middle Dutch visscherie and Middle High German vischerīe (“right to fish”), and for the legal sense the older piscary, from Medieval Latin piscaria, and Anglo-Norman pescherie (“right to fish, place where fish are caught”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An area of water set aside for fishing: 1534, in Robert Barnes's Supplication to Henry VIII.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1528, for the occupation of taking fish.[4]

Semantic evolution

The sense of the business or industry of catching fish is recorded from 1614,[2] and Johnson (1755) defined the word only in this way.[7] Etymonline, which dates the word to the 1670s in this sense and to the 1690s for a place where fish are caught.[3] In law it has meant the right to fish in particular waters since 1657, now a historical use.[2] A place where fish are bred and raised is now one of its main senses.[2][8] In American tramps' slang of the 1930s a fishery was a mission hall, which was "fishing" for souls.[9]

Timeline

  • 1534 – an area of water for fishing.[2][4]
  • 1614 – the business or industry of catching fish.[2]
  • 1657 – in law, the right to fish in certain waters.[2]
  • 1699 – a place suitable for fishing, a fishing ground.[2]
  • 1930 – in tramps' slang, a mission hall.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A place where fish are caught; a fishing ground: the cod fisheries off Newfoundland.[8][4][2]
  2. A place where fish or other water animals are bred and raised; a fish farm.[8][2]
  3. The industry or business of catching, processing and selling fish.[8][4][2]
  4. (law, historical) The right to fish in certain waters; a piscary.[8][2]

Word family

  • shellfishery

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com