A Word for Wednesday: Thatcher

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The word for this week is another that has evolved from Old Norse ‘thekja’ meaning to cover, the high German equivalent ‘decchen’ was borrowed to create the old English ‘theccan’ later culminating in the word ‘thatcher’.

A ‘thatcher’ is someone whose trade is to apply thatch roofs (a roofing material consisting of straw, reed, twigs etc.).

To ‘thatch’ is the act of applying such roofing.

A roof can be described as ‘thatched’

It can even be used to describe anything that resembles thatching, so one could have ‘thatched’ hair.

So ‘thatcher’ is yet another example of the English language taking influence from a mish-mash of cultures to create its own words - a ‘thatched’ word, if you will.


10 Apr 2013
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