Etymology

goldfish

gold·fish
G2O1L1D2F4I1S1H4

Today it means: A type of small fish, Carassius auratus, typically orange-colored. Full definition →

English fish ← Middle English fisch ← Old English fisċ
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goldfish · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰĺ̥h₃-to-m
  3. Proto-Germanic*gulþą
  4. Proto-West Germanic*golþ
  5. Old Englishgold
  6. Middle Englishgold
  7. Englishgold
  8. Proto-Indo-European*péysks
  9. Proto-Germanic*fiskaz
  10. Proto-West Germanic*fisk
  11. Old Englishfisċ
  12. Middle Englishfisch
  13. Englishfish
  14. English todaygoldfish

From gold + fish.

Goldfish · noun2

From goldfish. Named after the shape and color.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.