Etymology

etch

E1T1C3H4

Today it means: To cut into a surface with an acid or other corrosive substance in order to make a pattern. Best known as a technique for creating printing plates, but also used for decoration on metal, and, in modern industry, to make circuit boards. Full definition →

Dutch etsen ← German ätzen ← Old High German azzon
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*atjaną
  2. Old High German · derived fromazzon“to cause to bite or feed”
  3. German · derived fromätzen“to etch”
  4. Dutch · borrowed frometsen“to etch”
  5. English todayetch

From Dutch etsen (“to etch”), from German ätzen (“to etch”), from Old High German azzon (“to cause to bite or feed”), from Proto-Germanic *atjaną, causative of *etaną (“to eat”) (whence also English eat).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.