fisher

See also: Fisher

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

fisher (plural fishers)

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

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

Synonyms

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

Hyponyms

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

Derived terms

fisher-boat
fisheress
fisherfolk
fisherman
fisherperson
fisherwoman
fishery
kingfisher
line fisher
whale fisher
whale-fisher

Related terms

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

Translations

person who fishes

Arabic: صَيَّاد‎ m (ṣayyād) which refers alike to a hunter, poetically عَرَكِيّ‎ m (ʿarakiyy) which is singulative of عَرَك‎ (ʿarak) and عُرُوك‎ (ʿurūk)
Armenian: ձկնորս (hy) (jknors)
Aromanian: piscar
Bashkir: балыҡсы (balıqsı)
Bulgarian: рибар (bg) m (ribar)
Catalan: pescador (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 魚夫／鱼夫 (zh) (yúfū), 漁民／渔民 (zh) (yúmín)
Corsican: piscadore, pescadore, piscatore, pescatore
Crimean Tatar: balıqçı
Czech: rybář m (person)
Dutch: visser (nl) m
Egyptian:

(wḥꜥ)
Esperanto: fiŝisto, fiŝkaptisto
Estonian: kalur, kalamees
Finnish: kalastaja (fi)
French: pêcheur (fr) m (person), pêcheuse (fr) f (person), bateau de pêche (fr) m, bateau-pêcheur m (ship)
Friulian: pescjadôr m, pesčhadôr m
Galician: pescador (gl) m, pescadora f
Georgian: მეთევზე (metevze)
German: Fischer (de) m, Fischerin (de) f
Greek: αλιεύς (el) m (aliéfs)
Ancient: ἁλιεύς m (halieús)
Hungarian: halász (hu)
Istriot: pascadur
Italian: pescatore (it) m
Japanese: 漁師 (ja) (りょうし, ryōshi), 漁民 (ja) (ぎょみん, gyomin)
Korean: 낚시꾼 (ko) (naksikkun), 어부 (ko) (eobu)
Latin: piscātor m
Lun Bawang: dengen
Malagasy: mpanjono (mg)
Malay: pemancing
Occitan: pescaire (oc), pescador (oc)
Ojibwe: ojiig, ojiigag pl
Old English: fisċere m
Plautdietsch: Fescha m
Polish: rybak (pl) m
Portuguese: pescador (pt) m
Romanian: pescar (ro) m
Romansch: pestgader m, pestgadur
Russian: рыба́к (ru) m (rybák), рыболо́в (ru) m (rybolóv)
Scottish Gaelic: iasgair m
Serbo-Croatian: ribar (sh) m
Shor: палықчы (palıqçı)
Sicilian: piscaturi m
Spanish: pescador (es) m
Swedish: fiskare (sv) c
Turkish: balıkçı (tr)
Volapük: (♂♀) päskaran (vo), (♂) hipäskaran, (♀) jipäskaran
Walloon: pexheu (wa) m
Welsh: pysgotwr (cy) m
Yiddish: פֿישער‎ m (fisher)

Etymology 2

A fisher (Martes pennanti) tagged, in a cage

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

Noun

fisher (plural fishers)

A North American marten, Martes pennanti, that has thick brown fur.
- 1969, Rutherford George Montgomery, The Living Wilderness‎, 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, 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.
The fur of Martes pennanti.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

fisher cat
fisher marten

Translations

marten

Bulgarian: пекан m (pekan)
Catalan: marta pescadora f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 漁貂／渔貂 (yúdiāo), 食魚貂／食鱼貂 (shíyúdiāo)
Dutch: vismarter (nl) m
Finnish: pekani (fi), kanadannäätä (fi)
French: pékan (fr) m
Galician: marta (gl) f
German: Fischermarder m
Hungarian: halásznyest (hu)
Irish: cat crainn Pennant m
Latin: martes pennanti
Ojibwe: ojiig, ojiigag pl
Polish: kuna wodna f
Romanian: jder-pescăresc m
Russian: пека́н (ru) m (pekán)
Swedish: fiskmård c
Turkish: balıkçı sansar
Vietnamese: chồn mactet Bắc Mỹ

fur

Finnish: kanadannäätä (fi)

Anagrams

sherif