Wiktionary

fisher

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See also: Fisher

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfɪʃə/
• (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfɪʃɚ/
• Audio (US)(file)
• Homophones: fissure, phisher
• Rhymes: -ɪʃə(ɹ)

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English fischer, fischare, from Old English fisċere (“fisher”), from Proto-Germanic *fiskārijaz (“fisher”), equivalent to fish + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Fisker (“fisher”), West Frisian fisker (“fisher”), Dutch visser (“fisher”), German Low German Fisker, Fisser (“fisher”), German Fischer (“fisher”), Danish fisker (“fisher”), Swedish fiskare (“fisher”).

Noun[edit]

fisher (plural fishers)

1. A person who catches fish, especially for a living or for sport; a person engaging in the pastime of fishing.
   • 2021 December 1, The Road Ahead, page 43, column 1:

     The fishers who live here left for the mainland only days ago as an unseasonable October storm ravaged the islands.

Usage notes[edit]

Traditionally less common than fisherman, “fisher” is gaining in use as a more gender-inclusive alternative.

Synonyms[edit]

• (catcher of wild fish): angler, fisherman, fisherperson, piscary, piscator, piscatorialist, piscatorian, piscicapturist
• (catcher of captive fish): fish farmer, pisciculturist

Hyponyms[edit]

• (female): anglerette, fisheress (rare), fisherette, fisherwoman, piscatrix
• (by means of fishing): noodler, surfcaster, trawler

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

• (act): See fishing
• (adj): piscatory, piscatorial, piscatorian, piscatorious
• (adv): piscatorially
• (writing on fishermen): piscatory

Translations[edit]

person who fishes

Etymology 2[edit]

From French fichet (“polecat pelt”), probably from Dutch visse (“nasty”); modified by folk etymology to resemble Etymology 1.

Noun[edit]

fisher (plural fishers)

1. A North American marten, Martes pennanti, that has thick brown fur.
   • 1969, Rutherford George Montgomery, The Living Wilderness[1], page 13:

     In many ways the fisher resembles the pine marten, possessing many of the marten’s tricks and manners.

   • 1998, Thomas E. Kucera, American Marten, Fisher, Lynx, and Wolverine: Survey Methods for Their Detection[2], page 62:

     In the southeastern United States, Krohn et al. (1994) hypothesize that the inverse relationship between captures of fishers and martens by commercial trappers may result from an interaction between competitive displacement of marten by fisher and the avoidance of areas with deep and frequent snowfalls by fishers but not martens.

   • 2003, Cynthia J. Zabel, Robert G. Anthony, Mammal Community Dynamics, page 207,

     The term “forest carnivores” denotes a smaller group of four species – the marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine – and is only marginally descriptive, inasmuch as it excludes many carnivores that live in forests, and includes the wolverine, which can thrive in the complete absence of trees.

2. The fur of Martes pennanti.

Synonyms[edit]

• (Martes pennanti): pekan, fisher cat, black cat, fisher marten, big marten, black fox

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

marten

fur

See also[edit]

• Fisher (animal) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Martes pennanti on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Martes pennanti on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams[edit]

Categories:

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• Rhymes:English/ɪʃə(ɹ)
• Rhymes:English/ɪʃə(ɹ)/2 syllables
• English terms inherited from Middle English
• English terms derived from Middle English
• English terms inherited from Old English
• English terms derived from Old English
• English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
• English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
• English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)
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