Meanings
- uncountableTraditional Japanese fish printing.
In Japan the tradition of fish printing, or gyotaku, goes back to the 1800s, when fishermen began using ink and paper to record their catch. Ms. Sessler, who studied design in college, began making her fish prints two winters ago, when her husband got home from a long fishing excursion.
2007 August 8, Brett Martin, “First a Hook, Then Ink: An Artist’s Catch”, in New York Times
Origin
- Middle Chinese魚“fish”
- Japanese魚拓
- Englishgyotaku
Borrowed from Japanese 魚拓 (gyotaku, ぎょたく), from Middle Chinese 魚 (ngjo, “fish”) + 拓 (tʰak, “rubbing”).
More words from Japanese, Middle Chinese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gyotaku. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gyotaku
“gyotaku.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gyotaku. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gyotaku,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gyotaku.
Source: gyotaku on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.