Etymologically
Log in

hitch

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

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

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