Etymograph

English

hatch

Hatch comes from Middle English hacche ‘the bottom section of a Dutch door’, from Proto-West Germanic *haggju ‘hedge’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- ‘to keep, enclose’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰ-1‘to keep, enclose’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰyóm2‘enclosure’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hagjō2‘hedge’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haggju3‘hedge’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*hakkju4reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hæċ4‘a hatch (door)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hacche4‘the bottom section of a Dutch door’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608hatch4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *haggju
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hakkju
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English hatch
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “'Twere not amiss to keep our door hatched.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm‘to keep, enclose’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰyómWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *haggju‘enclosure’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hagjōWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *haggju‘hedge’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haggjuWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hakkju‘hedge’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*hakkjuWiktionary, English hatchreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hæċWiktionary, English hatch‘a hatch (door)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500haccheWiktionary, English hatch‘the bottom section of a Dutch door’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608hatchWiktionary, English hatch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “'Twere not amiss to keep our door hatched.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- ‘to keep, enclose’

inchoate, 1 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm ‘enclosure’

quay

through Proto-West Germanic *haggju ‘hedge’

hedge

Another origin of hatch

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hakjaną‘to peck’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*hæċċan‘to peck out’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hacche‘to propagate’
  5. Englishtodayhatch

Another origin of hatch

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hakkōną‘to chop’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*hakōnreconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400hacher‘to chop up, mince’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hacher‘to chop, slice up, incise with fine lines’
  6. Englishtodayhatch

Today it means

noun A horizontal door in a floor or ceiling.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hatch”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm, Proto-West Germanic *haggju, Proto-West Germanic *hakkju. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- / hatch

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