notch

Etymology

It is apparently borrowed from Anglo-Norman noche (“notch, tally mark”), recorded in Anglo-Norman from the early 14th century,^[2][3][4] a variant of osche, also Middle French, Old French osche (1170) and oche, meaning a notch, a hole, or a mark cut to keep a record;^[2][5] modern French has hoche (“nick, small notch”).^[2][6] The initial n is usually explained as taken over from the indefinite article, “an otch” becoming “a notch”,^[7][8][9][6] although the OED places this attraction in French.^[2] The French noun is related to oschier (“to notch”),^[8][6] and is cognate with osca and Catalan osca; its further origin is uncertain and disputed, a Gaulish word related to Breton ask (“notch”) and a survival related to Basque ozka (“notch”) having been suggested.^[2] A verb ochen (“to cut, slash”), from the Old French verb, is recorded in the alliterative poem Morte Arthure before 1400.^[8][10][2] Despite their similar form and meaning, no etymological link with nick or nock has been established.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A groove or V-shaped cut in an edge or across a surface: 1555, in Richard Eden's translation of Biringuccio's Pirotechnia.^[2] Barnhart dates the noun to 1577, and Merriam-Webster to about 1560.^[8][11]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was used of the nicks cut in a stick to keep a tally or score (1565),^[2] and in early cricket a run was called a notch (1730), because runs were counted by cutting notches.^[2][10][7] The verb, from the noun, at first meant to record by notches (1573) and to cut notches in (1581);^[2] to cut hair unevenly was a sense used from about 1590 to 1747.^[2][8] The sporting verb, to score or achieve, is recorded from 1836, in Dickens's Pickwick Papers, and is now usually notch up.^[2][7] From 1670 a notch was also a step or degree on a scale, as in a notch above.^[2][12] In North America it came to mean a narrow mountain pass (from 1649),^[2] mostly a New England and New York word for what further south was called a gap.^[7] Johnson (1755) derived the word from Italian nocchia.^[13]

Timeline

• before 1400 – Middle English ochen, to cut.^[8][10]
• 1555 – a V-shaped cut or groove.^[2]
• 1565 – a nick made to keep a tally.^[2]
• 1573 – verb, to record by notches.^[2]
• 1581 – verb, to cut notches in.^[2]
• 1649 – a narrow mountain pass (chiefly North American).^[2]
• 1670 – a step or degree.^[2]
• 1730 – a run in cricket.^[2]
• 1836 – verb, to score or achieve.^[2][7]
• 1846 – a hole in a belt or strap.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A V-shaped cut, groove or indentation in an edge or surface; a nick.
2. A cut made in a stick or other object to keep a tally or record.
3. (informal) A step or level on a scale: Her cooking is a notch above the rest.
4. (chiefly North America) A narrow mountain pass or gorge.
5. A small cut-out area at the top edge of the screen of a phone or other electronic device.

Verb

1. To cut a notch or notches in.
2. To record by cutting notches.
3. (usually notch up) To score or achieve: The team notched up its fifth straight win.

Word family

• notched
• notchy
• notchback

Related words

• nick
• nock
• oche
• top-notch

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.