fishpond

Etymology

It is formed from English fish + pond, already in Middle English.^{[2][3][4][5][1]}

Earliest recorded meaning

A pond in which fish are kept: about 1440 in the 1989 edition of the OED,^[6] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to the 14th century,^[2] and Dictionary.com to 1250–1300.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From 1604 the word was used jokingly for the sea.^[6] In the late 18th century it also named a hollow in a card table for holding the fish or counters used in play (1785).^[6] In the 1890s it became the name of a game of catching toy fish, and of a container at a fair from which small parcels are fished out,^[6] a grab bag in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – a pond in which fish are kept.^[6]
• 1604 – jocularly, the sea.^[6]
• 1785 – a hollow in a card table to hold fish or counters.^[6]
• 1892 – a game of catching toy fish; a receptacle at a fair from which small parcels are drawn.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pond stocked with fish, especially edible fish: The abbey's fishponds supplied the monks with carp.^[2][7][8][1]
2. A grab bag at a fair or bazaar from which small prizes are pulled out with a rod and line; also, a game of catching toy fish.^[2][6]

Related words

• fish
• pond

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster