inch

English Online Dictionary. What means inch‎? What does inch mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnt͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɪntʃ

Etymology 1

From Middle English ynche, enche, from Old English ynċe, borrowed from Latin uncia (“Roman inch, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Cognate with Middle Dutch enke (“thumb, thumb's width, inch”). Doublet of ounce, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.

Alternative forms

• in, in.

Noun

inch (plural inches or (UK colloquial) inch) (abbreviated in., ″)

1. An English unit of length equal to 1/12 of a foot or 2.54 cm, conceived as roughly the width of a thumb.
2. (figuratively) Any very short distance.
3. Any of various similar units of length in other traditional systems of measurement.
4. (meteorology) A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall.
5. A depth of one inch in a glass, used as a rough measurement of alcoholic beverages.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Assamese: ইঞ্চি (io͂si)
• → Hindi: इंच (iñc)
• → Indonesian: inci
• → Japanese: インチ (inchi)
• → Korean: 인치 (inchi)
• → Serbo-Croatian: и̏нч
• → Swahili: inchi
• → Turkish: inç
• → Vietnamese: inh
• → Yoruba: ínǹsì

Translations

Verb

inch (third-person singular simple present inches, present participle inching, simple past and past participle inched)

1. (intransitive, followed by a preposition) To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
2. To drive by inches, or small degrees.
3. To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• thou
• mil

Etymology 2

From Scottish Gaelic innis.

Noun

inch (plural inches)

2. (Scotland, Ireland) A small island; an islet.
4. (Scotland, Ireland) A meadow, pasture, field, or haugh.

Usage notes

• Found especially in the names of small Scottish islands, e.g. Inchcolm, Inchkeith.

Etymology 3

Semantic loan from Cantonese 寸 (cyun³, “inch”), which is an alternative form of 串 (cyun³, “cocky; to provoke; etc.”).

Adjective

inch

1. (Hong Kong, colloquial) cocky and cheeky

Synonyms

• inchy

Verb

inch (third-person singular simple present inches, present participle inching, simple past and past participle inched)

1. (Hong Kong, colloquial) to burn (to insult); to speak in a cocky and cheeky manner

Anagrams

• Ch'in, Chin, HNIC, chin, ichn-

Middle English

Noun

inch

1. Alternative form of ynche

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English inch.

Noun

inch m (plural inchi)

1. inch

   Synonym: țol

Declension