botch

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɒt͡ʃ/ (UK); /bɑt͡ʃ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bocchen (“to mend, patch”),^[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin.^[5][4] Random House and the Middle English Compendium identify it, with doubt, with bocchen “to swell up”,^[6][4] which is from Old Northern French boche, a variant of Old French boce “boss, swelling”,^[4][6] though the OED denies the connection.^[4] The noun botch “boil, swelling” (1377) is that word.^[7][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To mend or patch (before 1382).^[5][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant simply to repair, then to repair clumsily.^[7][4] By 1530 it meant to spoil by unskilful work,^[5][4][3][7] and the noun “a bungled part” followed in 1605.^[5][7][3] A separate noun botch meaning a boil or a plague of sores is now archaic or dialectal.^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1377 – noun, a boil or ulcer.^[7]
• before 1382 – verb, to mend or patch.^[5][7]
• 1530 – to spoil by unskilful work.^[5][7][3]
• 1561 – to put together clumsily.^[7]
• 1605 – noun, a botched part or piece of work.^[5][7][3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To spoil through clumsiness; to bungle.
2. To do or make something clumsily.
3. To repair or patch something clumsily.

Noun

1. A badly done or ruined piece of work; a mess.
2. A confused mixture; a hodgepodge.

Word family

• botcher
• botchy
• botchery

Related words

• boss
• bodge

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary groups botch, blow, bungle, fumble and muff as verbs meaning to harm or spoil through clumsy handling.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press