Ichthys or Ichthus

The ichthys or fish symbol was used by early Christians to identify each other. One person would draw an arc and the other would fill in the other arc to make the fish. The letters ΙΧΘΥΣ are Greek for “fish” and are an acronym, each letter is the first letter of the following words: Ἰησοῦς Χρῑστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ which mean Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Savior.

The transliteration of the Greek words Ἰησοῦς Χρῑστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ are Iēsous Christos Theou Hyios Sōtēr making ICHTHYS from the bold letters shown. Hyios can also be Huios thus creating the ICHTHUS variant.

The origin of its use may relate to the stories in the bible about Jesus calling fisherman to be his disciples, or describing them as fishers of men, Matt 4:19, and the multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish to feed a crowd of five thousand recounted in Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 6:31–44, Luke 9:12–17, and John 6:1–14.

Douglas A. Leas, October 2024

References:

Aquilina,Mike (2009) "The Christian Code", Catholic Answers https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-christian-code

Robert D. Luginbill, Explanation of the Ichthys Symbol and Acronym Ichthys.https://ichthys.com/ichthys-explanation.htm

"Ichthus." Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ichthus.