inch

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɪnt͡ʃ/ Rhymes: -ɪntʃ === Etymology 1 === From Middle English ynche, enche, from Old English ynċe, borrowed from Latin uncia (“Roman inch, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Cognate with Middle Dutch enke (“thumb, thumb's width, inch”). Doublet of ounce, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah. ==== Noun ==== inch (plural inches or (UK colloquial) inch, abbreviation in / in. or ″) An English unit of length equal to 1/12 of a foot or 2.54 cm, conceived as roughly the width of a thumb. (figuratively) Any very short distance. Any of various similar units of length in other traditional systems of measurement. (meteorology) A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall. A depth of one inch in a glass, used as a rough measurement of alcoholic beverages. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Assamese: ইঞ্চি (io͂si) → Hindi: इंच (iñc) → Indonesian: inci → Japanese: インチ (inchi) → Korean: 인치 (inchi) → Serbo-Croatian: и̏нч → Swahili: inchi → Turkish: inç → Vietnamese: inh → Yoruba: ínǹsì ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== inch (third-person singular simple present inches, present participle inching, simple past and past participle inched) (intransitive, followed by a preposition) To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction). To drive by inches, or small degrees. To deal out by inches; to give sparingly. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== See also ==== thou mil === Etymology 2 === From Scots inch, from Scottish Gaelic innis. ==== Noun ==== inch (plural inches) (Scotland, Ireland) A small island; an islet. (Scotland, Ireland) A meadow, pasture, field, or haugh. ===== Usage notes ===== Found especially in the names of small Scottish islands, e.g. Inchcolm, Inchkeith. ===== Derived terms ===== Inchlonaig King's Inch Kirkinch === Etymology 3 === Semantic loan from Cantonese 寸 (cyun3, “inch”), which is an alternative form of 串 (cyun3, “cocky; to provoke; etc.”). ==== Adjective ==== inch (Hong Kong, colloquial) cocky and cheeky ===== Synonyms ===== inchy ==== Verb ==== inch (third-person singular simple present inches, present participle inching, simple past and past participle inched) (Hong Kong, colloquial) to burn (to insult); to speak in a cocky and cheeky manner === References === “inch”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC. === Anagrams === HNIC, Chin, chin, Ch'in, NCHI, ichn- == Middle English == === Noun === inch alternative form of ynche == Romanian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English inch. === Noun === inch m (plural inchi) inch Synonym: țol ==== Declension ====