fisherman definition

English

Etymology

fisher +‎ -man.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪʃɚmən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪʃəmən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fish‧er‧man

Noun

fisherman (plural fishermen, feminine fisherwoman)

1. A fisher, a person engaged in fishing:
   1. Any person who attempts to catch fish.

      The fisherman cast his line.

      • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

        Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

   2. A person whose profession is catching fish.

      He is a fisherman, out on a trawler for days at a time.

      • 1663, Edward Waterhous [i.e., Edward Waterhouse], chapter I, in Fortescutus Illustratus; or A Commentary on that Nervous Treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, Written by Sir John Fortescue Knight, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Roycroft for Thomas Dicas […], OCLC 316351399, page 38:

        I knovv God by Miracle can inſtruct Kings, as he rained Mannah, and raiſed the Apoſtles from letterless Fiſher-men, to learned Metropolitans, and profound Doctours.

2. A vessel (boat or ship) used for fishing.
   • 1938, Cecil Ernest Lucas Phillips, Cromwell's Captains‎^[1], page 196:

     They tortured and put to death English factors in the Spice Islands; they descended upon the fisheries of the North Sea in huge fleets escorted by men-of-war that attacked and sank the fishermen of other nations

   • 1987, John Rousmaniere, Cruising Club of America. Technical Committee, Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts‎^[2], page 26:

     Such boats should not have been fast, but the better fishermen — particularly John Alden's designs - […] won a big share of the offshore and coastwise races

Synonyms

• See fisher

Derived terms

• fisherman bat (Noctilio leporinus)
• fishermanship

Related terms

• fisherwoman (fisher (female), fisherman (generic sense) (female))
• See fisher

Translations