from scratch

English

Etymology

From the scratch drawn in the ground serving as the starting line of a foot race. A runner “starting from scratch” received no handicap, but started at the beginning of the course.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Prepositional phrase

from scratch

(idiomatic) From the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.
There were so many errors in the program that the programmer decided to rewrite it from scratch.
When the writer finished writing his book, it was stolen and now he has to rewrite it from scratch.
He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch.
- 1980, Cosmos, Carl Sagan
  If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
(idiomatic) From basic materials or raw ingredients.
She said she wanted to build a new house from scratch.
He was out of pancake mix so he had to make the batter from scratch.
- 2002, The New Yorker
  He sat there Friday night and built an entire model ship from scratch.
- 2019 October 23, Rail, page 21:
  "By having a research and design facility in north Derbyshire, we will once again build trains from scratch on our shores."

Related terms

from the ground up
scratch-built
scratch made

Translations

from the beginning

Afrikaans: van die begin af
Bulgarian: започвам отначало (započvam otnačalo)
Catalan: des de zero
Chinese:
Mandarin: 從頭做起／从头做起 (cóngtóu zuòqǐ), 從頭開始／从头开始, 從頭開始／从头开始 (cóngtóu kāishǐ), (of a business) 白手起家 (zh) (báishǒuqǐjiā)
Dutch: vanaf nul, helemaal opnieuw, vanaf het begin
Finnish: tyhjästä, alusta alkaen
French: à partir de zéro, de zéro
Georgian: ნოლიდან (nolidan), თავიდან (tavidan)
German: von Grund auf, von neuem, von der Pike auf
Hungarian: elölről (hu)
Italian: da capo, di sana pianta, dal nulla, ex novo (it)
Japanese: 最初から (saisho kara), ゼロから (ja) (zero kara), ゼロの状態から (zero no jōtai kara)
Persian: از اول‎ (az avval)
Polish: od nowa (pl), od początku, od zera
Portuguese: do nada (pt), do zero (pt)
Russian: с чи́стого листа́ (s čístovo listá), с нуля́ (ru) (s nuljá), с са́мого нача́ла (s sámovo načála)
Spanish: desde cero, de cero, ex novo
Turkish: baştan (tr), sıfırdan

from raw ingredients

Chinese:
Mandarin: 用原料來...／用原料来... (yòng yuánliào lái...)
Dutch: vanaf het begin
Finnish: raaka-aineista
Italian: dal nulla
Japanese: 手作り (ja) (tezukuri)
Latin: ex nihilo n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: ^{(please verify)} des de zero, ^{(please verify)} des del principi (ca), ^{(please verify)} de cap i de nou
French: ^{(please verify)} à partir de zéro, ^{(please verify)} de zéro
German: ^{(please verify)} von Grund auf
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} del initio
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} desde cero

References

“from scratch”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.