poisson (French)

Where does "poisson" come from?

The French noun 'poisson', meaning 'fish', is inherited from Middle French 'poisson'[1]. This traces back to Old French 'poisson' or 'peisson', which combined an older form 'peis' with the suffix '-on'[1][3]. The form 'peis' originates from Latin 'piscis', derived from Proto-Italic '*piskis' and ultimately Proto-Indo-European '*péysks'[3][4][6]. The older form 'peis' likely evolved into 'pescion' within Old French to avoid confusion with its homonym 'peis', meaning 'peace'[3].

Open questions

The derivation through a Vulgar Latin form '*pisciō, pisciōnem' is noted as an alternative and less likely path. [1] [3]

Full etymology tree

poisson (French), 'fish (marine animal)'
- inherited poisson (Middle French), 'fish'
  - inherited poisson (Old French), 'fish'
    - derived peis (Old French), 'alternative form of pais'
      - inherited piscem (Latin), 'accusative singular of piscis'
        inherited *piskis (Proto-Italic), 'fish'
        inherited *péysks (Proto-Indo-European), 'fish'
    - suffix -on (French), 'forms diminutives of things, including some animals'
    - derived *pisciō (Vulgar Latin)
      - derived *pisciōnem (Vulgar Latin)

Ancestors

poisson (Middle French)
poisson (Old French)
-on (French)
piscis (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

comme un poisson dans l'eau (French)
couteau à poisson (French)
empoissonner (French)
engueuler comme du poisson pourri (French)
farine de poisson (French)
fourchette à poisson (French)
huile de poisson (French)
le poisson pourrit par la tête (French)
ni chair ni poisson (French)
noyer le poisson (French)
petit poisson deviendra grand (French)
poisson archer (French)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris