potrzebie

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noun

A fictional unit of length defined as the thickness of issue #26 (November 1955) of Mad Magazine, or approximately 2.26 millimetres.

OriginPolish potrzeba →
Scrabble 22
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Meanings

nounpotrzebie (plural potrzebies)

plural potrzebies

  1. humorousA fictional unit of length defined as the thickness of issue #26 (November 1955) of Mad Magazine, or approximately 2.26 millimetres.

Origin

  1. Polishpotrzeba
  2. Englishpotrzebie

From a case form of Polish potrzeba, adopted as a catchphrase by Mad magazine in the 1950s, and applied to a system of measurement by American computer scientist Donald Knuth (then a high-schooler).

More words from Polish

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

potrzebie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potrzebie

MLA

“potrzebie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potrzebie. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “potrzebie,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potrzebie.

Source: potrzebie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.