switch English · revision 4328

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1592|origins=nds swukse}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /swɪtʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably borrowed from a Flemish or Low German word,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) such as Hanoverian dialect swutsche, a variant of [[nds|zwukse|alt=swukse|t=long thin stick]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Merriam-Webster Unabridged suggests Middle Dutch swijch “bough, twig”.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) Etymonline traces it to a Germanic *swih-, also the source of German Zweck “aim”, originally “peg”, and perhaps related to [[sway]] and [[swing]].^(Etymonline) Early forms include swits and switz.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A slender tapering riding whip: 1592, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) It was used especially in the phrase ''switch and spurs'', at great speed.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A thin flexible shoot cut from a tree is from 1610,^(OED 1989) about 1600 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The verb, to strike or whip with a switch, is from about 1611, in Chapman's translation of the Iliad.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A device on a railway for moving trains from one track to another is from 1797,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) first on horse-drawn railways, and a lever for making or breaking an electric circuit from 1865.^(OED 1989) Etymonline cites Weekley that “the peg sense suits the mechanical applications”, and suggests these senses may have been borrowed again from continental Germanic.^(Etymonline) The railway verb, to turn a train onto another track, is from 1853 in American English,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which led to turning a device on or off, of electrical currents by 1881.^(Etymonline) The general sense “to shift, divert” is from 1860,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and “to change one thing for another” from 1919.^(Etymonline) The noun meaning a change or exchange is from 1920, at first slang,^(Etymonline) and ''switcheroo'' from 1933.^(Etymonline) A long bunch of hair is from 1870.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) In Yorkshire dialect to switch was also to make drunk.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1592 – a riding whip.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610 – a thin shoot.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1611 – verb, to whip.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1797 – a railway switch.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1853 – verb, to shunt a train.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1860 – to shift, divert.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1865 – an electrical switch.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1870 – a bunch of hair.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1919 – to exchange.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1920 – noun, a change.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device for opening or closing an electric [[circuit]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A device on a railway for moving trains from one track to another.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A change or [[shift]], especially a sudden one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A slender flexible rod or twig, especially one used for whipping.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A thick strand of real or false hair worn as part of a hairstyle.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The bushy tip of the tail of certain animals.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To turn on or off, or connect, with a switch.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To shift, transfer or divert.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[exchange]]: ''switched seats''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To whip with or as if with a switch.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To move or swish sharply: ''a cow switching its tail''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To move (a train) from one track to another.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[switchable]]

+ * [[switcher]]

+ * [[bait-and-switch]]

+ * [[microswitch]]

+ * [[switchback]]

+ * [[switchblade]]

+ * [[switchboard]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[switcheroo]]

+ * [[sway]]

+ * [[swing]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}