inch English · revision 4793

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1000|origins=la uncia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪntʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|unche]], inch, [[inh|ang|ynċe]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) an early borrowing [[der|la|uncia|t=a twelfth part]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from ūnus “one”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*óynos|alt=*oi-no-|t=one, unique]].^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that it is not found in other Germanic languages,^(Etymonline) though Hoad compares Old High German unza and Gothic unkja, also from uncia.^(Hoad 1986) It is a doublet of [[ounce]], the twelfth part of a pound.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A measure of length, the twelfth part of a foot: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The present spelling dates from about 1300, in Havelok the Dane.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A very small amount or distance is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Every inch'', in every respect, is from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) ''Give someone an inch and they will take a mile'' is from the mid-16th century, when they usually took an [[ell]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) As a unit of rainfall it is from 1845,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and of atmospheric pressure from 1727–41.^(OED 1989) The verb, to move by small degrees, is from 1599,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and to drive something by small degrees from the 1660s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a twelfth of a foot.^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1350 – a very small amount.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – verb, to move little by little.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1667 – verb, to drive by inches.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1845 – a measure of rainfall.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A unit of [[length]] equal to one twelfth of a [[foot]] (2.54 centimetres).^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A very small amount or distance.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A unit for measuring [[rain]] or snow, or the pressure of the air.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move, or make something move, slowly and carefully.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[incher]]

+ * [[microinch]]

+ * [[inchmeal]]

+ * [[acre-inch]]

+ * [[half-inch]]

+ * [[twelve-inch]]

+ * [[inchworm]]

+ * [[square inch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ounce]]

+ * [[one]]

+ * [[ell]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different inch, a small island, is from Scottish Gaelic innis “island”, related to Welsh ynys;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) it is found from about 1425 in the names of Scottish islands such as Inchcolm,^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) and locally of a meadow by a river, as the Inches of Perth.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}