English
switch
Switch is perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch ‘twig’, recorded from about 1592.
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500swijch‘twig’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1811switch
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500swijch‘twig’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1811switch
Earliest quotation: 1811, Walter Nicol: “Switch and clip thorn and other deciduous hedges.”
first attested first attested in c. 1592 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (‘twig’), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.
Every English word from Middle Dutch swijch
Today it means
noun A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle Dutch swijch / switch