patch English · revision 6852

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1382}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pæt͡ʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pacche, patche, of obscure origin,^(Etymonline) perhaps a variant of pece, pieche, from an Anglo-Norman form of [[m|fro|pieche]], a dialect variant of [[m|fro|piece]] (see [[piece]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline also suggests an unrecorded Old English word;^(Etymonline) Old English had claðflyhte for a patch.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A piece of material used to mend a hole or tear: 1382–84, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A piece of ground, especially a cultivated one, is from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) and a part of a surface unlike the rest from 1573.^(OED 1989) A small black patch worn on the face as an ornament (a beauty spot) is from 1592,^(OED 1989) a covering over a wound from 1591 and over an injured eye from 1598.^(OED 1989) ''Not a patch on'', nowhere near as good as, is colloquial, from 1860.^(OED 1989) The verb, to put a patch on, is from 1447,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in electronics, to connect temporarily, from 1923.^(Etymonline) A fix for computer software is a late-20th-century sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – a patch for mending.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1447 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1573 – a part of a surface.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1592 – a beauty spot.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1860 – not a patch on.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1923 – to connect (electronics).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of material used to cover a hole or strengthen a weak place.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small area differing from its surroundings: ''a damp patch''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small piece of land, especially for growing vegetables.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A pad or [[shield]] worn over an injured eye.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An adhesive pad that releases a [[drug]] through the skin.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A small piece of code that fixes or updates a program.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British, informal)'' A period of time of a certain kind: ''a bad patch''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To mend or cover with a patch.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(patch up)'' To repair hastily, or to settle a quarrel.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To connect temporarily, as a telephone call.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[patchable]]

+ * [[patcher]]

+ * [[patchless]]

+ * [[patchboard]]

+ * [[patch-up]]

+ * [[patchwork]]

+ * [[patchy]]

+ * [[mispatch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piece]]

+ * [[dispatch]]

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}