entry
patch
/pætʃ/A piece used to mend, cover, or repair
From Middle English, probably Germanic patch (A spot).
from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat
from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”)
from Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot,...
from Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot,...
from Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot,...
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat
from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”)
from Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot,...
from Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot,...
from Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot,...
Picture an old coat with an elbow worn completely through: the practical solution was a second scrap of cloth, sewn over the first. English patche appears in the late Middle Ages, but its ancestry is disputed: one theory connects it to the Germanic family represented by reconstructed *plakjō, “spot” or “stain,” while another makes it a cousin of Old French pieche, the ancestor of piece. The Germanic route has a wonderfully visible family album: Dutch plek means “spot” or “place,” and English pleck once meant a small plot of ground. By the 1570s, a patch could mean a cultivated piece of land; by the 1590s, it could also mean a contrasting area on any surface—or a little plaster placed on the face. Modern software kept the original repair metaphor alive: a program patch covers a flaw, though, as the slang joke goes, it may occasionally create two new ones. When you patch something, you are not merely fixing it—you are adding a visible little island of elsewhere.
The Story
Picture an old coat with an elbow worn completely through: the practical solution was a second scrap of cloth, sewn over the first. English patche appears in the late Middle Ages, but its ancestry is disputed: one theory connects it to the Germanic family represented by reconstructed *plakjō, “spot” or “stain,” while another makes it a cousin of Old French pieche, the ancestor of piece. The Germanic route has a wonderfully visible family album: Dutch plek means “spot” or “place,” and English pleck once meant a small plot of ground. By the 1570s, a patch could mean a cultivated piece of land; by the 1590s, it could also mean a contrasting area on any surface—or a little plaster placed on the face. Modern software kept the original repair metaphor alive: a program patch covers a flaw, though, as the slang joke goes, it may occasionally create two new ones. When you patch something, you are not merely fixing it—you are adding a visible little island of elsewhere.
Modern Usage
To ignore or temporarily cut off someone; also, humorously, a software fix that may introduce new bugs
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries for social ignoring and software patches
Kin & Kindred
From 'patch'·A spot, piece, or material used to repair something
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary