Shark, the fish, and shark, a swindler, are both of uncertain origin and may be different words; the second is perhaps from German Schurke, scoundrel, and some think it the source of the first.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ʃɑːk/ (UK); /ʃɑɹk/ (US)[4]
shark1 fish
- Confidence
- Unknown
- First attested
- 1569
Etymology
It is of uncertain origin.[1][2][5][6] Barnhart notes that the word was apparently brought by the sailors of John Hawkins' 1567 expedition to Africa and the West Indies, who exhibited a specimen in London in 1569.[2] An old theory traces it to a Mayan word xoc,[1] and Etymonline suggests that it may be the swindler sense transferred to the fish.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The large predatory fish: 1569 in Barnhart and the OED;[2][7] by the 1560s in Etymonline, perhaps the mid-15th century if an isolated diary instance is the same word.[1][3]
Semantic evolution
Northern Europeans seem not to have known the larger sharks before voyages to the tropics.[1] An earlier English name was tiburon, from Spanish tiburón (1520s),[1] and Middle English had hound-fish for dogfish.[1] A fresh-water shark, the pike, is jocular from 1799.[7] Of a predatory person it is from 1713.[7] The verb, to fish for sharks, is by 1860.[1][3]
Timeline
- 1569 – the fish.[2]
- 1713 – a predatory person.[7]
- 1799 – fresh-water shark.[7]
- 1860 – to fish for sharks.[1]
Modern meaning
Noun
- Any of numerous mainly marine fish with a cartilaginous skeleton, rows of sharp teeth and five to seven gill slits on each side.
Word family
- sharklike
- sharkskin
shark2 swindler
- Confidence
- Uncertain
- First attested
- 1594
Etymology
It is of uncertain origin, possibly a borrowing of earlier German Schorck, a variant of Schurke, scoundrel,[2][1][3][8] an agent noun of Middle High German schürgen, to poke, stir.[1] Word Origins suggests that shirk may be from the same German word.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
An artful swindler: sharker 1594, shark 1599, a sponger and petty swindler, in Ben Jonson's Every Man Out of His Humour.[1][2]
Semantic evolution
The verb, to live by one's wits, is from about 1600, and according to the OED is at least partly a variant of shirk;[1] to obtain by sharking is from the 1610s.[1] A rapacious or extortionate person is 18th-century,[5] a customs officer from 1785,[7] and in later uses, such as loan shark (1905), the sense has been influenced by the fish.[2][8]
Timeline
- 1594 – sharker.[1]
- 1599 – a swindler.[2]
- c. 1600 – to live by fraud.[1]
- 1785 – a customs officer.[7]
- 1905 – loan shark.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A person who cheats or preys on others, such as a usurer or swindler.
Verb
- To obtain by fraud, or to live by trickery.
Word family
- loan shark
- card shark
Related words
- shirk
- sharper
- sharp
Usage notes
In Dorset dialect shark meant to sneak off softly, compare shirk,[9] and in Gloucestershire a shark was a notch.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b 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)
Cite this entry
“Shark.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/shark. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
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