Where does “at a pinch” come from?
at a pinch (English) comes from English pinch, from Middle English pinchen, from Old French pincer, from Vulgar Latin pincio, from Latin punctiō, from Latin -tiō, from Latin dissertātiō, from Latin dissertus — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.
Ancestry of “at a pinch”, step by step
at a pinch traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English pinch
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pinch | To squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and... |
| 2 | Middle English | pinchen | — |
| 3 | Old French | pincer | to pinch |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | pincio | to puncture, pinch; I puncture, prick, pierce,... |
| 5 | Latin | punctiō | puncture, pricking |
| 6 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 7 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 8 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 9 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 10 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 11 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 12 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via English A
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | A | The ordinal number first, derived from this... |
| 2 | English | AND | Alternative form of ∧, the conjunction operator;... |
| 3 | Middle English | and | and, and then; however, yet, but, though. while;... |
| 4 | Old English | and | and; even; also |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | andi | in addition, furthermore, and |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énti | opposite; near; in front |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énts | forehead; front |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ent- | face; forehead; front |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |
via English AT
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | AT | Initialism of assistive technology; Initialism of... |
| 2 | Middle English | at | at; to |
| 3 | Old English | æt | eating; at a certain place; at a certain time |
| 4 | Proto-Turkic | āt | name |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | ētą | the act of eating; food |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | etaną | to eat |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁édti | to eat |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ed- | to eat |