Online Etymology Dictionary

fish (n.): O.E. fisc, from P.Gmc. *fiskaz (cf. O.H.G. fisc, O.N. fiskr, Du. vis, Ger. Fisch, Goth. fisks), from PIE *piskos (cf. L. piscis). The verb is O.E. fiscian.
"Of all diversions ... fishing is the worst qualified to amuse a man who is at once indolent and impatient." [Scott, 1814]
Fish story attested from 1819, from the tendency to exaggerate the size of the catch (or the one that got away). Fishtail (v.), of vehicles, first recorded 1927. Figurative sense of fish out of water first recorded 1610s.
fishery: “place where fish are caught,” 1690s, from fish + -ery. Related: Fisheries.
fishy: late 15c., from fish + -y (2). Sense of "shady, questionable" is first recorded 1840, perhaps from the notion of "slipperiness," or of giving off a bad odor.
fishwife: 1520s, from fish + wife in the “woman” sense.
fisher: O.E. fiscere, agent noun from fish (v.). Began to be used of certain animals, hence perhaps the rise of the formation fisherman (1520s).
fishmonger: mid-15c., from fish + monger.
fishing: verbal noun from fish, c.1300, fysschynge; figurative use from 1540s. Fishing rod (1550s) is older than fishing pole (1791). To “go fishing” is as old as Old English on fiscoð gan.
gefilte fish: 1892, not a species, but fish loaf made from various kinds of ground fish and other ingredients; the first word is from Yiddish, from Ger. gefüllte "stuffed."
pike (3): "voracious freshwater fish," early 14c., probably short for pike-fish, a special use of pike (2) in reference to the fish's long, pointed jaw (cf. Fr. brochet "pike" (fish), from broche "a roasting spit").
school (2): "group of fish," c.1400, from M.Du. schole "group of fish or other animals," cognate with O.E. scolu "band, troop, school of fish," from W.Gmc. *skulo- (see shoal (2)).
Exocet: 1970, proprietary name of a rocket-propelled short-range guided missile, trademarked 1970 by Société Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale, from Fr. exocet "flying fish," from L. exocoetus, from Gk. exokoitos "sleeping fish, fish that sleeps upon the beach," from exo "outside" + koitos "bed."
sardine: c.1430, from L. sardina, from Gk. sardine, sardinos, often said to be from Sardo "Sardinia" (see Sardinia), the Mediterranean island, near which the fish were probably caught and from which they were exported. But cf. Klein: "It is hardly probable that the Greeks would have obtained fish from so far as Sardinia at a time relatively so early as that of Aristotle, from whom Athenaios quotes a passage in which the fish sardinos is mentioned." Colloquial phrase packed like sardines (in a tin) is recorded from 1911.
tarpon: large fish (Megalops atlanticus) of the herring family, 1685, probably from a Native American word. Also called jew-fish.
shoal (2): "large number" (especially of fish), 1579, apparently identical with O.E. scolu "band, troop, school of fish," but perhaps rather a 16c. adoption of cognate M.Du. schole, both from P.Gmc. *skulo- (cf. O.S. scola "multitude," W.Fris. skoal), perhaps with a lit. sense of "division," from PIE base *skel- "to divide." Related to school "a crowd of fish" (q.v.). For possible sense development, cf. section from L. secare "to cut."
porpoise: 1309, from O.Fr. porpais (12c.), lit. "pork fish," from porc "pork" (see pork) + peis "fish," from L. piscis "fish." The O.Fr. word is probably a loan-translation of a Gmc. word, cf. M.Du. mereswijn "porpoise" (cf. Mod.Fr. marsouin). Classical L. had a similar name, porculus marinus (in Pliny), and the notion behind the name likely is a fancied resemblance of the snout to that of a pig.
bass (n.): "fish," 15c. corruption of O.E. bærs "a fish, perch," from P.Gmc. base *bars- "sharp" (cf. M.Du. baerse, M.H.G. bars, Ger. Barsch "perch," Ger. barsch "rough"), from PIE base *bhors- "bristle." The fish was so called for its dorsal fins.
carp (n.): "fish," 1393, from O.Fr. carpe, from V.L. carpa (c.575), possibly from Gothic *karpa. A Danube fish (hence the E.Gmc. origin of its name), introduced in Eng. ponds 14c.
Pisces: 12th sign of the zodiac, c.1391, from L., pl. of piscis "fish," cognate with Goth. fisks, O.E. fisc (see fish). Applied to persons born under this sign from 1924.
marlin: "large marine game-fish," 1917, shortening of marlinspike "pointed iron tool used by sailors to separate strands of rope" (1626), from M.Du. marlijn "small cord," from marlen "to fasten or secure (a sail)," probably freq. of M.Du. maren "to tie, moor." The fish was so called from the shape of its elongated upper jaw.
anchovy: 1590s, from Port. anchova, from Genoese or Corsican dialect, ultimately from either L. apua "small fish" (from Gk. aphye "small fry") or from Basque anchu "dried fish," from anchuva "dry."
ketchup: 1711, from Malay kichap, from Chinese (Amoy dial.) koechiap "brine of fish." Catsup (earlier catchup) is a failed attempt at Anglicization, still in use in U.S. Originally a fish sauce, early English recipes included among their ingredients mushrooms, walnuts, cucumbers, and oysters. Modern form of the sauce began to emerge when U.S. seamen added tomatoes.
smelt (n.): O.E. smelt "small salmon-like sea fish," cognate with Du. smelt "sand eel," Dan. smelt (c.1600). OED notes that it has a peculiar odor (but doesn't suggest a connection with smell); Klein suggests a connection with the way the fish melts in one's mouth.
grampus: 1529, from Anglo-Fr. grampais, altered (by infl. of grand) from O.Fr. graspeis, from M.L. craspicis, lit. "fat fish," from L. crassus "thick" + piscis "fish."
gudgeon: "small freshwater fish," early 15c., from M.Fr. goujon, from O.Fr. gojon, from L. gobionem (nom. gobio), alteration of gobius, from Gk. kobios, a kind of fish.
remora: "sucking fish," 1567, from L. remora, lit. "delay, hindrance," from re- "back" + mora "delay;" so called because the fish were believed by the ancients to retard a vessel to which they attached themselves. Pliny writes that Antony's galley was delayed by one at the Battle of Actium. Sometimes called in Eng. stayship or stopship.
mullet (1): "edible, spiny-finned fish," c.1440, from Anglo-Fr. molett, from O.Fr. mulet, from M.L. muletus, from L. mulettus, from mullus "red mullet," from Gk. myllos a marine fish, related to melos "black" (see melanin).
billingsgate: 1670s, the kind of coarse, abusive language once used by women in the Billingsgate market (mid-13c., not exclusively a fish market until late 17c.) on the River Thames below London Bridge.
"Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand." ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]
The place name is O.E. Billingesgate, "gate of (a man called) Billing;" the "gate" probably being a gap in the Roman river wall.
grunion: 1917, from Amer.Sp. gruñon "grunting fish," from grunir "to grunt," from L. grunnire, from Gk. gryzein "to grunt," from gry "a grunt." The unrelated American fish called the grunt is "so called from the noise they make when taken."
nurse (n.2): "dog fish, shark," 1499, of unknown origin.
brill: kind of flat fish, late 15c., of unknown origin.
wahoo: type of large marine fish, 1905, of unknown origin.
mola: type of fish, 1678, from L., lit. "millstone." So called because of the fish's shape and rough skin.
alewife: herring-like fish of N.America, 1630s, named for M.E. word for female tavern keepers; so called in reference to its large abdomen.
krill: 1907, from Norw. kril "small fry of fish."
roach (2): "small freshwater fish," early 14c., from O.Fr. roche (13c.), perhaps from a Germanic source.
skate (1): type of flat, cartilaginous fish, mid-14c., from O.N. skata, of unknown origin.
loach: "small European fish," 1357, from O.Fr. loche (13c.), also, in dialect, "slug," of unknown origin.
pilchard: fish of the herring family, 1542, earlier pilcher (1530), of unknown origin.
scale (n1.): "skin plates on fish or snakes," c.1300, from O.Fr. escale (12c., Mod.Fr. écale) "scale, husk," from Frank., from P.Gmc. *skælo "split, divide" (cf. O.H.G. scala "shell," Goth. skalja "tile," O.E. scealu "shell, husk), from PIE base *(s)kel- "to cut, cleave, split" (cf. L. culter "knife," scalpere "to cut, scrape;" O.C.S. skolika "mussel, shell," Rus. skala "rind, bark," O.E. scell "shell"). In reference to humans, as a condition of certain skin diseases, it is attested from c.1400. As what falls from one's eye when blindness ends (usually fig.), it echoes Acts ix.18 (L. tanquam squamæ, Gk. hosei lepides). Verb meaning "to remove the scales from (a fish)" is attested from c.1440.
chub: "river fish," mid-15c., chubbe, of unknown origin. In Europe, a kind of carp; in U.S., the black bass.
shotten: "having shot its spawn," and accordingly of inferior value, 1451, from pp. of shoot (q.v.). Originally of fish; applied to persons, with sense of "exhausted by sickness," from 1596.
chum (2): "fish bait," 1857, perhaps from Scot. chum "food."
Tasmanian devil: so called since at least 1829, from its propensity for killing young lambs (other voracious fish or animals also have been named devil).
Chautauqua: 1873, from town in N.Y., from ja'dahgweh, a Seneca (Iroquoian) name, possibly "one has taken out fish there," but an alternative suggested meaning is "raised body." Methodist summer colony there featured lectures from 1874.
shark: 1569, of uncertain origin; apparently the word and the first specimen were brought to London by Capt. John Hawkins's second expedition (landed 1565; see Hakluyt).
"There is no proper name for it that I knowe, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a 'sharke' " [handbill advertising an exhibition of the specimen, 1569]
The meaning "dishonest person who preys on others," though only attested from 1599 (sharker in this sense is from 1594), may be the original sense, later applied to the large, voracious marine fish. It is possibly from Ger. Schorck, a variant of Schurke "scoundrel, villain," agent noun of M.H.G. schürgen (Ger. schüren) "to poke, stir." The Eng. word was applied to voracious or predatory persons, on the image of the fish, from 1707 (originally of pick-pockets); loan shark is attested from 1905. Sharkskin was used for binding books, etc. As the name of a type of fabric held to resemble it, it is recorded from 1932.
carpaccio: raw meat or fish served as an appetizer, late 20c., from It., often connected to the name of Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio (c.1460–1526) but without any plausible explanation except perhaps that his pictures often feature an orange-red hue reminiscent of some raw meat.
Winnebago: "Siouan people of eastern Wisconsin," 1766, from Potawatomi winepyekoha, lit. "person of dirty water," in allusion to the muddy or fish-clogged waters of the Fox River below Lake Winnebago. As a type of motor vehicle, attested from 1966.
land (v.1): "to bring to land," c.1300, from land (n.). Originally of ships; of fish, in the angling sense, from 1610s; hence figurative sense of "to obtain" (a job, etc.), first recorded 1854. Of aircraft, attested from 1916.
tautog: edible marine fish of the Atlantic coast of N.America, 1643, from Narragansett tautauog, pl. of taut.
dory (2): "type of edible fish," c.1440, from Fr. doree, originally the fem. pp. of dorer "to gild," in reference to its colorings.