itchy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪt͡ʃi/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English itch + -y.^[2][3][4] Etymonline traces it to Old English ġiċċiġ,^[2] which Random House calls a rare Old English word meaning “purulent, putrid”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Affected with itching or the itch (1530).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as “infected with the itch”, the skin disease.^[7] From the itching of the skin it came to mean restless or craving something,^[3][8] as in figurative phrases such as itchy palm, greed for money, attested by 1599 in Jonson (Shakespeare has itching palm in 1601).^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records the sense of craving sexual gratification.^[8] The informal phrase itchy feet means a strong urge to travel or move about.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 1530 – first record.^[5][6][4]
• 1599 – itchy palm (Jonson).^[2]
• 1601 – itching palm (Shakespeare).^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson: infected with the itch.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having or causing an itch.
2. Restless or nervous; eager or longing for something.
3. Causing itching, as a rough fabric.

Word family

• itchiness

Related words

• itch
• scratchy

Usage notes

In itchy feet (informal), the word expresses an urge to travel or move on.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press