swatch
UK /swɒtʃ/ · US /swɔt͡ʃ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms swatches swatching swatched
- noun A piece, pattern, or sample, generally of cloth or a similar material. “He held a swatch of the wallpaper up to see if the colors would match the room.”
- noun A selection of such samples bound together.
- noun (figuratively) A clump or portion of something.
- noun (figuratively) A demonstration, an example, a proof.
- noun (Northern England, obsolete) A tag or other small object attached to another item as a means of identifying its owner; a tally; specifically the counterfoil of a tally.
- verb To create a swatch, especially a sample of knitted fabric. “Swatching is important in knitting to obtain the correct gauge.”
- noun (UK) A channel or passage of water between sandbanks, or between a sandbank and a seashore.
- proper noun A brand of relatively inexpensive Swiss analog watches.
Etymology
From earlier Northern England dialectal swache (“the counterfoil or counterstock of a tally”) (1512); further etymology unknown. Cognate with Scots swach, swatch. Compare English swath, swathe. Compare also Old English swæcc (“taste; flavour; odour; fragrance”).
Unknown; originally used chiefly in the East of England.
From second watch or Swiss watch.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “swatch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details