fisherfolk

English

WOTD – 21 November 2022

Etymology

Fisherfolk (sense 1) on the south coast of Java in 1931.

From fisher (“person who catches fish, especially for a living or for sport”) +‎ folk; compare fisherman.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪʃəfəʊk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪʃɚˌfoʊk/
• Hyphenation: fish‧er‧folk

Noun

fisherfolk (countable and uncountable, plural fisherfolks)

1. People who fish for a living.
2. (anthropology) Members of a culture that is dominated by fishing.
3. Recreational fishers.
   • 2008, Monte Dwyer, Red In The Centre: The Australian Bush Through Urban Eyes, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 69:

     Every year Grey Nomad migration sees the little Gulf town of Karumba stretched creaseless with sunbirds and fisherfolk.

Related terms

• fisher
• fisheress
• fisherman
• fisherperson
• fisherwoman

Translations

people who fish for a living

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 漁民／渔民 (zh) (yúmín)

• Finnish: kalastajat pl, kalastajakansa
• Japanese: 漁民 (ja) (ぎょみん, gyomin)

members of a culture that is dominated by fishing

• Finnish: kalastajakansan jäsen

Further reading

• fisherman on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “fisher-folk, n.” under “fisher, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.