leister

Meaning

Noun

A spear armed with three or more barbed prongs for catching fish, particularly salmon.

Verb

To catch or spear (fish) with a leister.

Synonyms

spear

fizgig

gaff

fish-fork

harpoon

lance

gig

Hyphenated as

lei‧ster

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈliːstə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: *lester

Cognate with Danish: lyster

Cognate with Icelandic: ljósta

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: lyster

Cognate with Norwegian: lioster

Cognate with Swedish: ljuster

In summary

From earlier leyster, lister, perhaps via Middle English *lēster, *līster, from Old Norse ljóstr (“leister”), from ljósta (“to smite, strike; to hit, strike (with an arrow or spear)”), from Proto-Germanic *leustaną (“to hit, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *lew-s- (“to loosen (by knocking)”); the word is cognate with Danish lyster (“fish spear, gig, leister”), Icelandic ljósta (“to hit, strike”), Norwegian Bokmål lyster (dialectal Norwegian lioster), Swedish ljuster.