fish
A cold-blooded aquatic vertebrate with gills and fins, living entirely in water.
Etymology
From Old English fisc, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz. This traces to PIE *pisk-, meaning "fish." The word is shared across Germanic, Italic, and Celtic branches, suggesting fish were an important food source for early Indo-Europeans.
The Journey: *pisk- → fish
*pisk-
*fiskaz
fisc
fish
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *pisk-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Latin | piscis |
| Gothic | fisks |
| Old Irish | íasc |
| Old Norse | fiskr |
| Old High German | fisc |
Did You Know?
The zodiac sign Pisces takes its name from Latin piscis "fish." The word "porpoise" comes from Old French porpeis, literally "pig-fish" (from Latin porcus + piscis).
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *pisk-. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.