Etymologically
Log in

kingfisher

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word kingfisher

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1440 Promptorium Parvulorum More words from the 15th century
Ultimate origin
Old English cyning,fiscere
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English king
English kingfisher
From the same root
English kingship ← king

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkɪŋˌfɪʃə/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English king + fisher,[2][3][4][5] at first with the first element in the genitive, as kinges fisher[5] or kyngys fyschare.[1] The form with the genitive and the shorter one are both recorded by the OED.[2] Why the bird was called the king's fisher is obscure.[4][1] The first element goes back to Old English cyning (“king, ruler”),[4] and the second to fiscere, which Etymonline glosses as both "fisherman" and "kingfisher".[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The small Eurasian bird with brilliant blue and orange plumage that dives for fish: first recorded in the Promptorium Parvulorum of 1440.[2] The 1989 edition of the OED dates it to about 1440,[6] Etymonline to the mid-15th century,[4] and Dictionary.com to 1400–50.[5]

Semantic evolution

The name spread from the one European bird to its relatives, recorded in Cotgrave's dictionary in 1611, and today it covers the whole family Alcedinidae.[2][7] Johnson's 1773 edition glosses it with halcyon.[8] In the form king's fisher it was also a salmon anglers' artificial fly dressed with a peacock feather, recorded from about 1758 to 1818.[2] The bird's plumage gave a name to a brilliant blue or blue-green colour, which the revised OED records from 1901 (the 1989 edition had 1922),[2][6] with an adjective from 1930.[2]

Timeline

  • 1440 – the Eurasian bird.[2]
  • 1611 – any bird of the kingfisher family.[2]
  • c. 1758 – king's fisher, an artificial fly for salmon (obsolete after 1818).[2]
  • 1901 – a brilliant blue or blue-green colour.[2]
  • 1930 – adjective, of that colour.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any bird of the family Alcedinidae, usually brightly coloured, with a large head, short tail and long sharp bill, many of which dive for fish; especially the Eurasian Alcedo atthis, with greenish-blue and orange plumage.[9][7][2]
  2. A brilliant blue or blue-green colour; kingfisher blue.[2][3]

Adjective

  1. Of this brilliant blue or blue-green colour.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Kingfisher.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/kingfisher. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·