titch

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tɪtʃ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪtʃ

Etymology 1

From the stage name Little Tich; see tich. Attested since the 1880s.[1][2]

Noun

titch (plural titches)

  1. (Britain, colloquial) A very small person; a small child.
    I ain't afraid of a titch like you.
    • 1995, Philip Mitchell, One Moonlit Night, translation of Un Nos Ola Leuad by Caradog Prichard, page 106:
      We called him Titch because he was a tiny little man, and he had a mop of black hair.

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English techen, tüchen, variant or dialectal forms of Middle English touchen (to touch).[3]

Noun

titch (plural titches)

  1. (colloquial) A small amount of something.
    I'll have just a titch more cake.
    • 1988, Howard Lewis Russell, Rush to Nowhere, page 148:
      “...and just a titch of my special pepper sauce over these turnip greens, everybody loves turnip greens.”

Verb

titch (third-person singular simple present titches, present participle titching, simple past and past participle titched)

  1. Eye dialect spelling of touch.
    • 1865, Nathan Hogg, Poetical Letters, page 63:
      Vur Bob eszul wis awful titch'd / An went jist like a hoss a witch'd.
    • 1894, Sabine Baring-Gould, Kitty Alone, page 120:
      There was some sort of affray between you and Flood. The constables separated you. What led to this? ¶ [] I titched Noah and Noah titched me and my hat falled off.

Etymology 3

Variant or colloquial pronunciation of teach.

Verb

titch (third-person singular simple present titches, present participle titching, simple past and past participle titched)

  1. Eye dialect spelling of teach.
    • 1888, George Washington Cable, Bonaventure, page 114:
      “yass, dass all right: but how we know you titch English? Nobody can’t tell you titchin’ him right or no.”

References

  1. titch” in Colin McIntosh, editor, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, →ISBN; reproduced on the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, retrieved 12 June 2018.
  2. titch, n.1.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, January 2018.
  3. titch, n.2.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2013.

Scots

Etymology

From Old Scots tuich or twych, from Old French tuchier.

Verb

titch (third-person singular present titches, present participle titchin, past titched, past participle titched)

  1. Archaic spelling of touch.
    • 1845, T. Denham, Poems and Snatches of Prose, page 145:
      Wud ye titch the bell? Gin I binna dry, an my tongue a’ san’paper, I’m a leear.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    • 1983, William Lorimer, The New Testament in Scots, Luke 8:43-44, page 119:
      Jesus wis gaein alang wi the thrang ’maist birzin the breith out o him, wan a wuman at hed haen a rin a bluid for twal year, at nae-ane docht redd her o, cam up ahent him an titched the rund o his coat; an immedentlie the rin o bluid devauled.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Noun

titch (plural titches)

  1. Archaic spelling of touch.
    • 1895, Ian Maclaren, A Doctor of the Old School, page 175:
      He hed juist ae faut, tae ma thinkin’, for a’ never jidged the waur o’ him for his titch of rochness—guid trees hae gnarled bark—but he thotched ower little o’ himsel’.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.