Angler

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæŋ.ɡlə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A person who catches fish using a rod, line, and hook as a recreational or sporting activity
2. An individual who engages in the activity of fishing, typically using a rod and line to attract and catch fish for sport or leisure purposes
3. A person who participates in fishing, often employing specialized gear like rods and lines to capture fish in various bodies of water

Etymology: "Angler" is a plain agent noun: the "-er" suffix, meaning one who performs an action, attached to "angle," the word for a fishing line and hook. In Middle English the form appeared as "angler," "angleer," and "angeler," and the sense was simply someone who fished with an angle, that is, a hook on a line. The older word "angle" is what gives the story its twist. Its root sense is "bend" or "hook," from the same Germanic stem that also gave English "angle" in the geometric sense of two meeting lines. A fishhook is a bent piece of metal, so the tool named the fisher, and the activity name followed: "angling" was the sport, and the person who practised it became the angler. Angle, the tool, is older in English than the sport it names, so the noun for the fisher was built on an existing word rather than invented fresh. The suffix itself is one of the most productive in English, which is why the same pattern gives us "baker," "hunter," and "writer" from simple verbs.

Synonyms: fisherman, fisher, catcher, reeler, rodder