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Origin and history of grampus

grampus(n.)

a word applied to killer whales and other large, dolphin-like creatures, 1590s, earlier graundepose (1520s), altered (by influence of grand) from Middle English graspeys (late 13c.), from Anglo-French grampais, from Old French graspois, craspois "whale, (salted) whale meat; blubber; seal," from Medieval Latin craspicis, literally "great fish" or "fat fish," from Latin crassus "thick" (which is of unknown origin) + piscis "fish" (from PIE root *pisk- "a fish"). For specifics of usage in English, see OED.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to grampus

*pisk-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "a fish."

It might form all or part of: fish; fishnet; grampus; piscatory; Pisces; piscine; porpoise.

It might also be the source of: Latin piscis (source of Italian pesce, French poisson, Spanish pez, Welsh pysgodyn, Breton pesk); Old Irish iasc; Old English fisc, Old Norse fiskr, Gothic fisks.

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    Trends of grampus

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    Orca
    "killer whale," introduced as a generic term for the species by 1841, from earlier use in scientific names, from Latin orca "cetacean, a kind of whale." Earlier in English, orc, ork "large marine mammal, deadly sea-creature" (by mid-17c.), from French orque, had been used vaguely
    dolphin
    popular name of a diverse group of marine mammals, also including the porpoise (but the true dolphin has a longer and more slender snout), mid-14c., dolfin, from Old French daulphin, from Medieval Latin dolfinus, from Latin delphinus "dolphin," from Greek delphis (genitive delphi
    grand
    late 14c., grant "large, big" (early 12c. in surnames), from Anglo-French graunt and directly from Old French grant, grand (10c., Modern French grand) "large, tall; grown-up; great, powerful, important; strict, severe; extensive; numerous," from Latin grandis "big, great; full, a
    whale
    "animals of the mammalian order Cetacea," Old English hwæl "whale," also "walrus," from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (source also of Old Saxon hwal, Old Norse hvalr, hvalfiskr, Swedish val, Middle Dutch wal, walvisc, Dutch walvis, Old High German wal, German Wal), from PIE *(s)kwal-o-
    sea
    Middle English se, seo, from Old English sæ, "sheet of water, sea, lake, pool," from Proto-Germanic *saiwa- (source also of Old Saxon seo, Old Frisian se, Middle Dutch see, Dutch zee, German See, Swedish sjö), of unknown origin, outside connections "wholly doubtful" [Buck], and a
    wolf
    Old English wulf "wolf, wolfish person, devil," from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz (source also of Old Saxon wulf, Old Norse ulfr, Old Frisian, Dutch, Old High German, German wolf, Gothic wulfs), from PIE root *wlkwo- "wolf" (source also of Sanskrit vrkas, Avestan vehrka-; Albanian ul'k
    speakeasy
    "unlicensed saloon," 1889 (in the New York "Voice"), from the verbal phrase, from speak (v.) + easy (adv.); so called from the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police and neighbors. Compare early 19c. Irish and B
    parameter
    1650s in geometry, in reference to conic sections, from Modern Latin parameter (1630s), from Greek para- "beside, subsidiary" (see para- (1)) + metron "measure" (from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure"). A geometry term until late 1920s when it began to be extended to "measurable fac
    pitch
    "thick, tenacious, resinous substance obtained from tar or turpentine, wood tar," late 12c., pich, piche, from Old English pic "pitch," from a Germanic borrowing (compare Old Saxon and Old Frisian pik, Middle Dutch pik, Dutch pek, Old High German pek, German Pech, Old Norse bik)
    consequence
    late 14c., "logical inference, conclusion," from Old French consequence "result" (13c., Modern French conséquence), from Latin consequentia, abstract noun from present-participle stem of consequi "to follow after," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + sequi

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