Etymologically
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patch

Etymology and origin of the English word patch

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
1382

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pæt͡ʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English pacche, patche, of obscure origin,[2] perhaps a variant of pece, pieche, from an Anglo-Norman form of pieche, a dialect variant of piece (see piece).[3][4][5][6] Etymonline also suggests an unrecorded Old English word;[2] Old English had claðflyhte for a patch.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of material used to mend a hole or tear: 1382–84, in the Wycliffe Bible.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

A piece of ground, especially a cultivated one, is from the 1570s,[2] and a part of a surface unlike the rest from 1573.[7] A small black patch worn on the face as an ornament (a beauty spot) is from 1592,[7] a covering over a wound from 1591 and over an injured eye from 1598.[7] Not a patch on, nowhere near as good as, is colloquial, from 1860.[7] The verb, to put a patch on, is from 1447,[3][2] and in electronics, to connect temporarily, from 1923.[2] A fix for computer software is a late-20th-century sense.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 1382 – a patch for mending.[3][7]
  • 1447 – the verb.[3]
  • 1573 – a part of a surface.[7]
  • 1592 – a beauty spot.[7]
  • 1860 – not a patch on.[7]
  • 1923 – to connect (electronics).[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A piece of material used to cover a hole or strengthen a weak place.
  2. A small area differing from its surroundings: a damp patch.
  3. A small piece of land, especially for growing vegetables.
  4. A pad or shield worn over an injured eye.
  5. An adhesive pad that releases a drug through the skin.
  6. (computing) A small piece of code that fixes or updates a program.
  7. (British, informal) A period of time of a certain kind: a bad patch.

Verb

  1. To mend or cover with a patch.
  2. (patch up) To repair hastily, or to settle a quarrel.
  3. To connect temporarily, as a telephone call.

Word family

  • patchable
  • patcher
  • patchless
  • patchboard
  • patch-up
  • patchwork
  • patchy
  • mispatch

Usage notes

An obsolete patch, a fool or clown (1540s), perhaps from Italian pazzo, fool, is a separate word, perhaps influenced by the patched clothing of fools.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Patch.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/patch. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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