fetch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: fĕch
ipa: /fɛt͡ʃ/
note: Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete
enpr: fŏch
ipa: /fɑt͡ʃ/
note: Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete
rhymes: -ɛtʃ
Forms: form: fetches
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.
Senses: glosses: An act of fetching, of bringing something from a distance.
examples: text: a fetch from a cache
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: An act of fetching, of bringing something from a distance.
An act of fetching data.
glosses: The object of fetching; the source of an attraction; a force, propensity, or quality which attracts.
examples: text: When a fetch is close to land, this variability will alter anticipated wind directions and velocities.
ref: 1977, Coastal Engineering Research Center (U.S.), Shore Protection Manual, page 29:
glosses: An area over which wind is blowing (over water) and generating waves.
examples: text: From recently completed radar maps of the Brazilian Amazon I determined the shape, maximum fetch and width and orientation of all the lakes greater than 100 meters across in the floodplain […]
ref: 1983, Résumés:
text: For example, a steady wind of 40-50 kilometres/hour - a Force 6 strong breeze - blowing for 12 hours over an initially calm sea and traversing a fetch of 1000 kilometres could produce a significant wave height […]
ref: 2006, Andrew Rose, Sandra Rose, 'Man Overboard!': The HMAS Nizam Tragedy, Red Rose Books, →ISBN, page 48:
text: Wind waves continue to grow within the fetch area, [...] A graphical wave hindcasting method by means of Wilson's fetch diagrams produced an estimate of H_(1/3) = 9.4 m and T_(1/3) = 12.3 s over the fetch of about 1,800 km on the 7th of April.
ref: 2010, Yoshimi Goda, Random Seas and Design of Maritime Structures, World Scientific, →ISBN, page 66:
glosses: The length of such an area; the distance a wave can travel across a body of water (without obstruction).
examples: text: Every little fetch of wit and criticism.
ref: 1665, Robert South, “Jesus of Nazareth proved the true and only promised Messiah”, in Twelve Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volume 3, published 1727:
text: And as to your cant of living single, nobody will believe you. This is one of your fetches to avoid complying with your duty […].
ref: 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXIX”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:
synonyms: contrivance
dodge
glosses: A stratagem or trick; an artifice.
glosses: A game played with a dog in which a person throws an object for the dog to retrieve.
Derived terms: fetch quest