hitch

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hytchen (“to move with a jerk”), first recorded in the “Promptorium Parvulorum” (1440),^[2][3] and of uncertain origin.^[2][4][5][6] The revised OED takes it as probably an alteration of the verb itch in its obsolete sense "to move, stir", under the influence of hotch, to move jerkily.^[3] That older verb, icchen (“to move, rise; to move with jerks”), is recorded in the Ormulum, about 1175,^[7] and the MED lists hicchen and hitchen among its forms;^[7] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary likewise derive the word probably from icchen, itself of unknown origin.^[8][9] Barnhart notes the lack of cognates in related languages.^[2] Klein and Skeat compared dialect hike, to move with a jerk,^[10][11] and Skeat also Low German hikken (“to peck”);^[11] Weekley suggested that hotch might be French hocher, recorded from the 12th century, with the vowel changed.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To move something with a jerk, especially to raise it, as one hitches up clothing: 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum.^[3][2][8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline suggests that the link with icchen may lie in the jerky motion of hitching up trousers or boots.^[8] From the early 16th century the verb also meant to shift one's position, and to hobble or limp.^[3] The sense "to become caught or fastened", especially on a hook, is recorded from 1578,^[3][2] originally a nautical use,^[8][12] and Barnhart notes that its connection with the jerking sense is not clear.^[2] From it came "to fasten a rope or line temporarily" (1627, in John Smith's Sea Grammar)^[3][12] and the noun for such a knot.^[3] In American English the verb came to mean to harness a horse or team (1817), to get on well together (1842), and, passively, to be married (1844), as in get hitched.^[3][8] Hitch, to get a lift from passing vehicles, follows in 1910, and as a short form of hitchhike it is recorded by 1931.^[3][8][2] The noun's sense "an unexpected stoppage, an obstacle" dates from 1748, in a letter of Walpole;^[3][2] Weekley explained it as originally a stoppage made by a quick turn of a rope.^[12] An American slang sense, a period of service, especially in the army, appears in 1835.^[3][13][8] Emerson's hitch your wagon to a star was current by 1862.^[8][12]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – icchen, to move, in the Ormulum.^[7]
• 1440 – to move with a jerk, to raise.^[3][2]
• 1578 – to become caught or fastened, as on a hook.^[3][2]
• 1627 – verb, to fasten temporarily with a loop or hook; noun, a knot for fastening a rope.^[3]
• 1649 – noun, a limp.^[3]
• 1748 – an unexpected obstacle or stoppage.^[3][2][8]
• 1817 – to harness a draught animal.^[3]
• 1835 – a period of service.^[3][8]
• 1844 – to be married, to get hitched.^[3][8]
• 1871 – a lift from a passing vehicle.^[3]
• 1910 – to obtain a lift; 1922, to travel by lifts.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fasten or tie something, usually temporarily, with a knot, loop or hook: She hitched the dinghy to the jetty.^[14][6][3]
2. To connect a horse or team, or a vehicle, to what it draws; to harness: They hitched the trailer to the van.^[14][6][3]
3. To pull something up with a quick jerk: He hitched up his trousers.^[14][3]
4. To move jerkily or haltingly; to hobble.^[14][6][3]
5. To become caught or entangled.^[14][3]
6. (informal) To obtain a lift, or to travel, by hitchhiking.^[14][3]
7. (informal) get hitched: to get married.^[14][6][3]

Noun

1. A temporary difficulty or obstacle; a snag: The launch went off without a hitch.^[14][6][3]
2. A knot used to fasten a rope temporarily to something, as a clove hitch.^[3][6]
3. A device for coupling a vehicle or implement to what pulls it.^[6][3]
4. A sudden pull or jerk.^[6][3]
5. A limp.^[6][3]
6. (chiefly US, informal) A period of service, especially in the armed forces.^[3][13]
7. (informal) A lift from a passing vehicle.^[3]

Word family

• hitcher
• hitchhike
• unhitch
• clove hitch
• half hitch

Related words

• itch
• hotch
• hike

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d e Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins