fisher meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

fisher

noun

UK /ˈfɪʃə/ · US /ˈfɪʃɚ/

Etymology 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”).

A person who catches fish, especially for a living or for sport; a person engaging in the pastime of fishing.

The fishers who live here left for the mainland only days ago as an unseasonable October storm ravaged the islands.2021 December 23, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 43, column 1:
Yet every fisher that Dzugan knows, and every fisher elsewhere, too, knows someone who has died at sea or had a near miss. […] But they are also the reasons for the safety campaigns, for the constant and valiant attempts to persuade fishers to wear lifejackets at work, to figure out how to get someone overboard back on the vessel, to carry ladders or gaffers that someone can grab on to.2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2025:

Synonyms: angler, fisherman, fisherperson, piscary, piscator, piscatorialist, piscatorian, piscicapturist, fish farmer, pisciculturist
Derived terms: bottom fisher, codfisher, electrofisher, fisher-boat, fisherboy, fisheress, fisherfolk, Fisher King, fisherman, fisherperson, fisherwoman, fishery, flyfisher, kingfisher, line fisher, rodfisher, spearfisher, whale fisher, whale-fisher
Related terms: fishery, for more, fishing § Derived terms, piscatory, piscatorial, piscatorian, piscatorious, piscatorially
Hyponyms: anglerette, fisheress, fisherette, fisherwoman, piscatrix, noodler, surfcaster, trawler

fisher

noun

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

A North American marten-like mammal (Pekania pennanti), that has thick brown fur.

In many ways the fisher resembles the pine marten, possessing many of the marten's tricks and manners.1969, Rutherford George Montgomery, The Living Wilderness, page 13:
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.1998, Thomas E. Kucera, American Marten, Fisher, Lynx, and Wolverine: Survey Methods for Their Detection, page 62:

1 more example

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

Fur of specimens of species Pekania pennanti.

Synonyms: pekan, fisher cat, black cat, fisher marten, big marten, black fox
Derived terms: fisher cat, fisher marten