Etymograph

English

tatch

Tatch comes from French tache ‘spot’, from Old French tache ‘mark’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taiknaz1reconstructed
  3. Gothicc. 300–600taikns1transliteratedGothic script taikns, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘mark, sign’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tacca1reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tache1‘mark’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600tache1
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presenttache2‘spot’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1594tatch2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French tache
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tatch
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Percy: “Their grazing feast will haue a wearish tatch”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, French tache‘to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taiknazWiktionary, French tachereconstructed
  3. Gothicc. 300–600taiknsWiktionary, French tachetransliteratedGothic script taikns, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘mark, sign’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*taccaWiktionary, French tachereconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tacheWiktionary, French tache‘mark’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600tacheWiktionary, French tache
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presenttacheWiktionary, English tatch‘spot’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1594tatchWiktionary, English tatch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Percy: “Their grazing feast will haue a wearish tatch”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’

index, teach, indicate, predict, toe, dictionary, indication, token, digit, indicator, addict, contradictory, contradiction, indicative, ditto, contradict, syndicate, dictator, dictate, diction, predicate, ditty, dictum, interdict, syndicalism, dict, indicia, 32 more

through French tache ‘spot’

tack, tache, 2 more

Today it means

noun A spot or stain.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tatch”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French tache. 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 *deyḱ- / tatch

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