Etymograph

English

scatch

Scatch comes from French escache, and goes back to Italian scaccia.

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentscaccia1
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentescache1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1684scatch1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English scatch
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1684, Thomas de Grey, The Compleat Horse-Man: “and thus, having brought your horse to a Post…”.

Lineage

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentscacciaWiktionary, English scatch
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentescacheWiktionary, English scatch
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1684scatchWiktionary, English scatch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1684, Thomas de Grey, The Compleat Horse-Man: “and thus, having brought your horse to a Post…”

Every English word from Italian scaccia

Today it means

noun A kind of bit for the bridle of a horse.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scatch”. 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 / Italian scaccia / scatch

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