Etymograph

English

inch

Inch comes from Old English ynċe, via Proto-West Germanic *unciju, from Latin ūncia ‘twelfth, Roman inch’, probably from ūnus ‘one’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos‘one’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnus‘one’uncertain
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnicus‘unique’uncertain
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEūncia‘twelfth; Roman inch’
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*unciju‘ounce; inch’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150ynċe‘inch’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ynche‘inch’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591inch

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos‘one’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnus‘one’uncertain
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnicus‘unique’uncertain
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEūncia‘twelfth; Roman inch’
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*unciju‘ounce; inch’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150ynċe‘inch’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ynche‘inch’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591inch

Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch.”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one’

unity, nullity, 2 more

through Latin ū̆ncia ‘Roman inch, various similar units’

ounce, 5 more

Another origin of inch

  1. Scottish Gaelicmoderninnis
  2. Scotsc. 1450–presentinch
  3. Englishtodayinch

Today it means

noun An English unit of length equal to 1/12 of a foot or 2.54 cm.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos / inch

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