thatch

thatch

See also: Thatch

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θæt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætʃ

Etymology 1

Variant of thack, from Middle English thache, thach, from Old English þæc (“roof-covering”), from Proto-West Germanic *þak, from Proto-Germanic *þaką (“covering”), from (o-grade of) Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“cover”).

Cognate with Icelandic þak, Dutch dak, German Dach, Norwegian tak, Swedish tak, Danish tag; and with Latin toga, Albanian thak (“awn, beard, pin, peg, tassel, fringe”), Lithuanian stogas (“roof”). Related to Ancient Greek τέγος (tégos, “roof”) and στέγη (stégē, “roof”). See also English deech, deck.

Noun

thatch (countable and uncountable, plural thatches)

1. Straw, rushes, or similar, used for making or covering the roofs of buildings, or of stacks of hay or grain.
2. (Caribbean) Any of several kinds of palm, the leaves of which are used for thatching.
3. A buildup of cut grass, stolons or other material on the soil in a lawn.
   • 2015 May 30, Rob Kuznia, “California turns to fake grass in response to drought”, in The Guardian‎:

     Mark Ladd, the venue’s assistant director of operations, notes that the fake greenery looks authentic: the height and colour of the blades are varied, with a few brown ones thrown in to emulate dead thatch.

4. (by extension) Any straw-like material, such as a person's hair.
   • 2008, Wallace Madding, The Country Club Killings: A Montana Story (page 21)

     An outgoing, story-telling Irishman from Butte, Montana, with his thatch of red hair and sandpapered face, Matt was the quintessential imp.

Synonyms

• (straw for covering roofs or stacks): haulm

Derived terms

Terms derived from thatch (noun)

• big thatch
• overthatch
• underthatch

 

Translations

straw for covering roofs or stacks

Assamese: উলূ (ulu), শৰণ খেৰ (xoron kher), ঘৰছোৱা বন (ghorsüa bon) Bulgarian: сламен покрив (slamen pokriv) Chinese: Mandarin: 茅草 (zh) Cornish: sowl pl Czech: došek (cs) m Faroese: tekingarhálmur m, tekingartilfar n Finnish: olki (fi) French: chaume (fr) m Galician: colmo (gl) m, colmadura f German: Reet (de) n, Dachstroh n Greek: αχυροσκεπή (el) f (achyroskepí) Hungarian: zsúp (hu) Irish: tuí f Korean: 이엉 (ko) (ieong) Maori: rauwhare, raurau Mongolian: сүрэл (mn) (sürel), зэгс (mn) (zegs) Norwegian: halm m Occitan: clujada (oc) f Persian: گالی‎ (fa) (gāli), کلش‎ (fa) (kolaš) Polish: strzecha (pl) f Portuguese: colmo (pt) m Romanian: stuf (ro) Russian: соло́ма (ru) f (solóma) Scottish Gaelic: tughadh m Sicilian: pagghia (scn) f Spanish: techo de paja m Swedish: halm (sv) c Welsh: gwellt m

Etymology 2

From Middle English thacchen, from Old English þeċċan, þeċċean (“to cover”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną (“to cover”), from Proto-Germanic *þaką (“cover, covering”, noun) (see above).

Cognate with West Frisian dekke, Dutch dekken, German decken, Danish tække, Swedish täcka. Alteration of vowel after Middle English perhaps due to the above noun.

Verb

thatch (third-person singular simple present thatches, present participle thatching, simple past and past participle thatched)

1. To cover the roof with straw, reed, leaves, etc.

Derived terms

Terms derived from thatch (verb)

• bethatch
• overthatch
• unthatch

 

Derived terms

• Thatch
• thatched (adj.)
• Thatcher
• thatcher
• thatching (n.)
• thatch weave

 

Translations

cover with thatch

Chinese: Mandarin: 用茅草覆盖屋顶 Cornish: sowlenna Faroese: tekja Finnish: kattaa oljilla French: couvrir de chaume Galician: teitar, colmar (gl) Latin: cōnsternō Maori: inaki, tāpatu, nati, ato, whakarauwhare Mongolian: зэгс (mn) (zegs) Norman: glyi Persian: گالی‌پوش کردن‎ (gāli-puš kardan) Portuguese: colmar (pt) Quechua: wayllay Scottish Gaelic: tugh Welsh: toi (â gwellt), rhoi to gwellt

Anagrams

• hatcht