Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The taking of fish in waters that one does not own but that by custom or law are open for such use by the public.
  • noun A fishery.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In law, the right or privilege of fishing in another man's waters.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Law) The right or privilege of fishing in another man's waters.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun fishery
  • noun law The right or privilege of fishing in somebody else's waters.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a workplace where fish are caught and processed and sold

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English piscaries, fishing rights, from Medieval Latin piscāria, from Latin, neuter pl. of piscārius, of fish, from piscis, fish. Sense 2, Medieval Latin piscārium : Latin piscis, fish + Latin -ārium, -arium.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin piscarius relating to fishes or to fishing, from piscis a fish.

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Examples

  • Thousands of acres of rich cotton-lands were exchanged by the Indians for orders on the store, they giving warranty deeds to same, reserving only the rights of piscary and massacre.

    Comic History of the United States Bill Nye 1873

  • In addition to common pasture, commoners were granted rights of pannage, of turbary, of estovers, and of piscary—rights to run their pigs in the woods, to cut peat for fuel, to gather wood from the forests, and to fish.

    The Theft of the Commons Condé Nast 2022

Comments

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  • usage on consuetudo

    March 19, 2008

  • According to definition #2 you're either in a piscary or you're not working.

    September 15, 2008