fetch
/fɛt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.65 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To bring oneself; to make headway; to veer; as, to fetch about; to fetch to windward.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "You have to fetch some sugar in order to proceed with the recipe."
- "I'm thirsty. Can you fetch me a glass of water, please?"
- "SATURNINUS: Go fetch them hither to us presently. TITUS: Why, there they are, both baked in that pie, Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred."
- "He called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."
- "Jack and Gill Went up the hill, To fetch a bottle of water."
- "When they got home, the Rat made a bright fire in the parlour, and planted the Mole in an arm-chair in front of it, having fetched down a dressing-gown and slippers for him, and told him river stories till supper-time."
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English fecchen (“to get and bring back, fetch; to come for, get and take away; to steal; to carry away to kill; to search for; to obtain, procure”) [and other forms], from Old English feċċan, fæċċan, feccean (“to fetch, bring; to draw; to gain, take; to seek”), a variant of fetian, fatian (“to bring near, fetch; to acquire, obtain; to bring on, induce; to fetch a wife, marry”) and possibly related to Old English facian, fācian (“to acquire, obtain; to try to obtain; to get; to get to, reach”), both from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to hold, seize; to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”). The English word is cognate with Dutch vatten (“to apprehend, catch; to grasp; to understand”), German fassen (“to catch, grasp; to capture, seize”), English fet (“(obsolete) to fetch”), Faroese fata (“to grasp, understand”), Danish fatte (“to grasp, understand”), Swedish fatta (“to grasp, understand”), Icelandic feta (“to go, step”), West Frisian fetsje (“to grasp”). The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fɛt͡ʃ/
- British English: /fɛt͡ʃ/