Etymograph

English

silverfin

From silver + fin.

A compound of silver + fin

Proto-Germanic *silubrą ‘silver’

Proto-West Germanic *silubr ‘silver’

Old English seolfor ‘silver’

Middle English silver ‘silver’

English silver

Proto-Indo-European *(s)pīn- ‘backbone, dorsal fin’

Proto-Germanic *finnō

Old English finn

Middle English fin

English fin

Today it means

noun A small North American freshwater cyprinoid fish (Notropis whipplei, now Cyprinella whipplei).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “silverfin”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / silverfin