fisher

Etymology 1

From Middle English fischer, fischare, from Old English fisċere (“fisher”), from Proto-Germanic *fiskārijaz (“fisher”), equivalent to fish + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Fisker (“fisher”), West Frisian fisker (“fisher”), Dutch visser (“fisher”), German Low German Fisker, Fisser (“fisher”), German Fischer (“fisher”), Danish fisker (“fisher”), Swedish fiskare (“fisher”).

noun

1. A person who catches fish, especially for a living or for sport; a person engaging in the pastime of fishing.
   The fishers who live here left for the mainland only days ago as an unseasonable October storm ravaged the islands. Dec 2021, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 43, column 1

Etymology 2

From French fichet (“polecat pelt”), probably from Dutch visse (“nasty”); modified by folk etymology to resemble Etymology 1.

noun

1. A North American marten, Martes pennanti, that has thick brown fur.
   In many ways the fisher resembles the pine marten, possessing many of the marten's tricks and manners. 1969, Rutherford George Montgomery, The Living Wilderness, page 13
   In the southeastern United States, Krohn et al. (1994) hypothesize that the inverse relationship between captures of fishers and martens by commercial trappers may result from an interaction between competitive displacement of marten by fisher and the avoidance of areas with deep and frequent snowfalls by fishers but not martens. 1998, Thomas E. Kucera, American Marten, Fisher, Lynx, and Wolverine: Survey Methods for Their Detection, page 62
   The term "forest carnivores" denotes a smaller group of four species - the marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine - and is only marginally descriptive, inasmuch as it excludes many carnivores that live in forests, and includes the wolverine, which can thrive in the complete absence of trees. 2003, Cynthia J. Zabel, Robert G. Anthony, Mammal Community Dynamics, page 207
2. The fur of Martes pennanti.