DictionaryRoot: fiscere
Old English

fiscere

fisherman; kingfisher

1 / 1
A recognizable kingfisher perched on a bare branch above a small patch of water, holding a freshly caught small fish crosswise in its long bill.
noun

kingfisher

KING-fish-ur/ˈkɪŋfɪʃər/

A small, often brightly colored bird that catches fish.

Etymology

The name originally meant “king’s fisher”: the fisher element fits the bird’s fish-catching behavior and already named this bird in Old English. Why it was associated with a king is obscure.

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