thatchn.
/θatʃ/, U.S. /θætʃ/ 1.
a. Material used in thatching; straw or similar material with which roofs are covered.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > for thatching
thacka900
wattlesc900
thatch1398
thackingc1440
litter1453
long straw1591
helm1669
thatching1671
straw1765
yelma1825
thatch-grass1884
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xvii. clxvii[i] Þe rafters beþ stronge and square..& beþ charged wtoute wt sclatte and tile oþre wt strawe and þacche [1495 thetche].
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 159 Theyr houses..are..couered with reede and thetche.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. Introd. 20 Their houses are built round, al of earth, flat-roofed, and couered with a kind of thatch.
1727 A. Pope Alley 48 in J. Swift et al. Misc.: Last Vol. Hard by a Sty, beneath a Roof of Thatch, Dwelt Obloquy.
1847 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Peru I. iii. viii. 520 The roofs of their dwellings, instead of tiles, were only of thatch.
1878 H. W. Bates Central Amer. iv. 41 Everywhere the palms yield an abundance of poles and thatch available for building purposes.
b. That actually forming a roof, the thatching.palmetto thatch: see palmetto thatch n. at palmetto n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Treat. Orange Trees ii. 5 in Compl. Gard'ner The Cieling and Floor above ought to be..clad in Winter with a Thatch of Hay or Straw.
1816 in Life W. Havergal (1882) 13 The pretty thatch and white walls so common hereabouts.
1867 D. G. Mitchell Rural Stud. 77 The roof a neat thatch of wheat straw.
1889 A. Conan Doyle Micah Clarke xxiii. 228 They shelter the walls from the rain..by great overhanging thatches.
c. transferred. A thatched dwelling.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house of specific material or construction
thatch-house1521
slate house1554
thack housec1600
frame house1627
log-house1662
straw1665
thatch1693
tin-house1798
fog house1799
leaf house1811
rock house1818
black house1819
blockhouse1821
white house1824
slab-and-bark house1826
brown house1845
brush house1854
soddy1877
hurdle-housea1879
bottle house1913
stucco1922
prefab1942
Portal house1944
Airey1945
yali1962
1693 S. Harvey in J. Dryden tr. Juvenal Satires ix. 181 The Poor Inhabitants of yonder Thatch Call'd me their Lord.
a1790 T. Warton Ode viii. Morning Up mounts the mower from his lowly thatch.
1793 W. Hodges Trav. India 67 For constant residence, these would be improved into the various thatches and huts which I have seen.
2.
a. figurative. Covering; often humorously the hair of the head.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > [noun]
lockeOE
faxc900
hairc1000
hairc1000
headOE
topc1275
toppingc1400
peruke1548
fleece1577
crine1581
head of hair1587
poll1603
a fell of haira1616
thatcha1634
maidenhair1648
chevelure1652
wool1697
toupet1834
nob-thatch1846
barnet1857
toss1946
a1634 W. Austin Devotionis Augustinianæ Flamma (1635) 284 The very Top and Cover, my Thatch above..growes gray.
1634 Noble Souldier ii. sig. Cv Had my Barbour Perfum'd my louzy thatch here, and poak'd out Me Tuskes more stiffe.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 129 'Neath the hazel's leafy thatch.
1888 J. R. Lowell Heartsease & Rue 193 We..Who've paid a perruquier for mending our Thatch.
1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping (1899) 27 The damage he had done to his ‘thatch’, as he graphically styled his hair.
b. Originally and chiefly U.S. A matted layer of plant debris, moss, etc., on a lawn; the material of this layer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > lawn or grass-plot > layer of plant debris on surface
thatch1955
1955 How to install & care for Your Lawn 59/1 Opening up a thatch of interwoven stolons and stems can be difficult.
1964 Book of Lawn Care (N.Y. Times) iii. 15 Because of its rapid growth, this grass has a tendency to form a heavy mat or thatch.
1977 Western Living (Vancouver) Apr. 61/1 Power raking for the removal of moss ‘thatch’ in spring often does harm to the turf.
1980 Amateur Gardening 4 Oct. 16/3 Another cause of moss is ‘thatch’, a layer of dead, moisture retentive grass and debris that builds up on the lawn's surface.
3.
a. Name in the West Indies for several species of palms, the leaves of which are used for thatching: see quot. and thatch-palm n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > other palms
prickly palm1666
thorny palm1666
palm1681
sagwire1681
wine-palm1681
prickle-palm1684
prickly pole1696
brab1698
palmyra1698
thatch-tree1756
double coconut1775
nibong1779
nipa1779
rhapis1789
cocorite1796
groo-groo1796
borassus1798
cohune1805
traveller's tree1809
tucum1810
gomuti1811
taliera1814
lontar1820
salak1820
ground-rattan1823
geonoma1824
tucuma1824
nikau1827
wax-palm1830
murumuru1834
piassava1835
traveller's palm1850
bangalow1851
inajá palm1853
jacitara1853
peach palm1853
pupunha palm1853
jipijapa1858
urucuri1860
climbing palm1863
sea-apple1864
Alexandra palm1865
coquito1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
açai1868
walking-stick palm1869
kentia1870
toquilla1877
Guadalupe palm1895
tortoiseshell palm1902
pimpler1909
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > trees or shrubs yielding fibre, etc. > palms yielding fibre or thatching materials
satchel-palm1658
rattan1681
palmetto thatch1756
thatch-tree1756
rotan1771
cabbage palm tree1773
cabbage tree1796
tucum1810
gomuti1811
hat palm1812
gebang1817
tucuma1824
nikau1827
piassava1841
cabbage palm1847
bussu1850
jupati1856
timite1858
Raphia1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
toquilla1877
raffia palm1897
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. Thatch, Calyptronoma Swartzii, and Copernicia tectorum. Palmetto Thatch, Thrinax parviflora. Silver Thatch, Thrinax argentea.
b. U.S. Tall, coarse grass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun] > herbage or grass > tall or coarse
thatch1622
fag1854
1622 Relation Eng. Plantation Plimoth, New Eng. 25 Some of our people being abroad, to get and gather thatch, they saw great fires.
1695 in Early Rec. Town of Providence (Rhode Island) (1894) VI. 156 That Parcell of Meadow marsh & thatch..belongeth to me.
1797 B. Trumbull Compl. Hist. Connecticut iii. 24 There grew bent grass, or as some called it, thatch, two, three and four feet high.
1863 D. G. Mitchell My Farm of Edgewood 49 I gave them [sc. bees] a warm shelter of thatch.
1951 E. M. Graham My Window looks down East iv. 34 Salt hay and thatch, or evergreens, are piled around the houses to insulate against the cold.
Compounds
thatch-eave n.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats To Autumn i, in Lamia & Other Poems 137 The vines that round the thatch-eves run.
thatch-roof n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > roof > [noun] > thatched roof
chopper1780
attap1817
thatch-roof1901
1901 Westm. Gaz. 15 Aug. 1/3 The thatch roof of a West-country cottage.
thatch-straw n.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 1095 To give the thatch-straw a smoothness, it should be stroked down with a long supple rod of willow.
thatch-work adj.
ΚΠ
1895 F. B. Workman & W. H. Workman Algerian Mem. xi. 113 Villages with thatch-work houses.
thatch-browed adj.
ΚΠ
1863 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life in Dorset Dial. 61 An'by a house, where rwoses hung avore The thatch-brow'd window, an' the open door.
thatch-roofed adj.
ΚΠ
1774 J. Trumbull Poet. Wks. (1820) II. 210 The thatch-roof'd hamlet and defenceless shed..are their fate.
1847 H. W. Longfellow Evangeline i. Prel. 9 Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers?
thatch-cloak n. a cloak of any thatching material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > loose clothing > cloak, mantle, or cape > types of > made of specific material
pallOE
rug1591
matchcoat1612
abolla1700
kaross1731
buffalo-robe1804
posteen1815
korowai1820
izar1836
buffalo1840
thatch-cloak1844
parawai1847
kaitaka1882
muzhik1897
burka1898
suba1911
1844 B. Mayer Mexico xxiii. 166 An Indian shepherd-boy in his long thatch-cloak of water-flags.
thatch-grass n. a grass or similar plant used for thatching, as Cape T., Restio chondropetalus.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > for thatching
thacka900
wattlesc900
thatch1398
thackingc1440
litter1453
long straw1591
helm1669
thatching1671
straw1765
yelma1825
thatch-grass1884
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 802 The houses at the Cape of Good Hope are commonly thatched with Restio tectorum,..sometimes whole huts are built with it.]
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Grass, Cape Thatch.
thatch-hook n. see quot.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > thatching equipment > pin for fastening down thatch
prayeOE
strabrod1335
broachc1440
thack-broach1573
thatch-prick1688
thack-prick1828
scollop1829
spit1833
stob1837
thack-nail1846
thack-peg1846
thack-pin1846
thatching-stake1879
thatch-hook1886
thatch-peg1897
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Thatch-hooks, iron hooks, driven into the spars, to hold down the first layers of straw in thatching a house.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house of specific material or construction
thatch-house1521
slate house1554
thack housec1600
frame house1627
log-house1662
straw1665
thatch1693
tin-house1798
fog house1799
leaf house1811
rock house1818
black house1819
blockhouse1821
white house1824
slab-and-bark house1826
brown house1845
brush house1854
soddy1877
hurdle-housea1879
bottle house1913
stucco1922
prefab1942
Portal house1944
Airey1945
yali1962
1521 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 399 No man shall buld, make or repayre anny straue or tache housse, for fear of fyre and burninge.., unlesse they be covered with sklattes.
1609 Euerie Woman in her Humor sig. G4 He that has not a tilde house must bee glad of a thatch house.
thatch-palm n. name for various palms of which the leaves are used for thatching: in the West Indies, the genus Thrinax; in southern U.S., the genus Sabal, esp. S. umbraculifera; in Brazil, Euterpe montana ( Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); in Lord Howe's Island, Howea forsteriana ( Cent. Dict. 1891).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > other palms
prickly palm1666
thorny palm1666
palm1681
sagwire1681
wine-palm1681
prickle-palm1684
prickly pole1696
brab1698
palmyra1698
thatch-tree1756
double coconut1775
nibong1779
nipa1779
rhapis1789
cocorite1796
groo-groo1796
borassus1798
cohune1805
traveller's tree1809
tucum1810
gomuti1811
taliera1814
lontar1820
salak1820
ground-rattan1823
geonoma1824
tucuma1824
nikau1827
wax-palm1830
murumuru1834
piassava1835
traveller's palm1850
bangalow1851
inajá palm1853
jacitara1853
peach palm1853
pupunha palm1853
jipijapa1858
urucuri1860
climbing palm1863
sea-apple1864
Alexandra palm1865
coquito1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
açai1868
walking-stick palm1869
kentia1870
toquilla1877
Guadalupe palm1895
tortoiseshell palm1902
pimpler1909
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > trees or shrubs yielding fibre, etc. > palms yielding fibre or thatching materials
satchel-palm1658
rattan1681
palmetto thatch1756
thatch-tree1756
rotan1771
cabbage palm tree1773
cabbage tree1796
tucum1810
gomuti1811
hat palm1812
gebang1817
tucuma1824
nikau1827
piassava1841
cabbage palm1847
bussu1850
jupati1856
timite1858
Raphia1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
toquilla1877
raffia palm1897
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1147/1 Thrinax..In Jamaica these palms are commonly known by the name of Thatch-palms.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1147/1 The Silver Thatch-palm is usually said to yield..Palmetto Thatch,..extensively employed for making palm-chip hats, baskets, and other fancy articles.
thatch-peg n. = thatch-prick n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > thatching equipment > pin for fastening down thatch
prayeOE
strabrod1335
broachc1440
thack-broach1573
thatch-prick1688
thack-prick1828
scollop1829
spit1833
stob1837
thack-nail1846
thack-peg1846
thack-pin1846
thatching-stake1879
thatch-hook1886
thatch-peg1897
1897 R. M. Gilchrist Peakland Faggot 62 Busily whittling thatch pegs.
thatch-pin n. = thatch-prick n.
thatch-prick n. a stick sharpened at one end to fasten down thatch.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > thatching equipment > pin for fastening down thatch
prayeOE
strabrod1335
broachc1440
thack-broach1573
thatch-prick1688
thack-prick1828
scollop1829
spit1833
stob1837
thack-nail1846
thack-peg1846
thack-pin1846
thatching-stake1879
thatch-hook1886
thatch-peg1897
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 266/1 Thatching, is to cover..with Straw, Ferne, Rushes or Gorst, which is bound and held together by Laths, Windings, and Thatch Pricks.
thatch-rake n. an implement with curved teeth for straightening the thatching material as it is laid on the roof.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > thatching equipment > for straightening thatch
thatch-rake1847
1847–94 Parker Gloss. Her. at Rake The thatch-rake or thatcher's rake.
thatch-rod n. = thatching-rod n. at thatching n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > thatching equipment > rod for fastening down thatch
spelk1563
springle1657
thatching-rod1703
spar1746
spear1837
spick1890
thatch-rod1903
ledger1916
ligger1953
1903 Q. Rev. July 12 They were its thatch-rods.
thatch-tree n. (see quot. 1866).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > other palms
prickly palm1666
thorny palm1666
palm1681
sagwire1681
wine-palm1681
prickle-palm1684
prickly pole1696
brab1698
palmyra1698
thatch-tree1756
double coconut1775
nibong1779
nipa1779
rhapis1789
cocorite1796
groo-groo1796
borassus1798
cohune1805
traveller's tree1809
tucum1810
gomuti1811
taliera1814
lontar1820
salak1820
ground-rattan1823
geonoma1824
tucuma1824
nikau1827
wax-palm1830
murumuru1834
piassava1835
traveller's palm1850
bangalow1851
inajá palm1853
jacitara1853
peach palm1853
pupunha palm1853
jipijapa1858
urucuri1860
climbing palm1863
sea-apple1864
Alexandra palm1865
coquito1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
açai1868
walking-stick palm1869
kentia1870
toquilla1877
Guadalupe palm1895
tortoiseshell palm1902
pimpler1909
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > trees or shrubs yielding fibre, etc. > palms yielding fibre or thatching materials
satchel-palm1658
rattan1681
palmetto thatch1756
thatch-tree1756
rotan1771
cabbage palm tree1773
cabbage tree1796
tucum1810
gomuti1811
hat palm1812
gebang1817
tucuma1824
nikau1827
piassava1841
cabbage palm1847
bussu1850
jupati1856
timite1858
Raphia1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
toquilla1877
raffia palm1897
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 344 The Thatch Tree. The leaves..used for thatch.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. Thatch-tree, a name applied to palms generally in the West Indies.
thatch-wood n. brushwood arranged as thatch: see quot.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > stick, twig, or rod > for thatching collectively
sprays1520
thatch-wood1877
1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Thatch-wood Work,..a mode of facing sea-walls with brushwood. Under-brush..is cut down, fagoted at its full length, and spread over the face of the banks. It is kept down by strong stakes, which have cross pins at their upper ends to rest upon the brush.
Draft additions 1993
b. A woman's pubic hair. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > pubic hair > [noun]
pubes1569
garden1732
fud1771
pubic hair1836
moss1847
rug1893
maidenhair1908
pussy hairc1910
bush1922
man-hair1928
thatch1933
chuff1967
pube1967
1933 C. McKay Banana Bottom vi. 67 Looking to the stand where the girls were, Tack, indicating Bita, said: ‘And tha's a finer piece a beauty than thisere. Man! Man! Oh, how I'd love to get under her thatch.’
1941 in G. Legman Limerick (1979) ii. 35 His bollocks grew rough And wrecked his wife's muff, And scratched up her thatch in the scrimmage.
1980 Maledicta 4 187 To leave the hirci (armpit hairs) and return to the quim whiskers, common terms include..the nostalgic (thatch).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
thatchv.
/θatʃ/, U.S. /θætʃ/ΚΠ
OE Beowulf 513 Þa git on sund reon; þær git eagorstream earmum þehton.
OE Genesis 877 For hwon wast þu wean and wrihst sceome, gesyhst sorge, and þin sylf þecest lic mid leafum.
c1000 Ags. Ps. (1835) cxlvi. 8 Se þe heofen þeceð hadrum wolcnum.
2. spec. To cover or roof (a house) with straw, reeds, palm-leaves, heather, or the like, laid so as to protect from the weather; also, to cover the top of (a rick or wall) in a similar way. †Formerly also, to roof (a house) with slates, tiles, or similar roofing material.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > roof > thatch
thatch1398
theek1399
thackc1440
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xvii. xxxi. (Tollem. MS.) In þe norþe londe men þacchen [1495 thetche] here houses with reed.
?c1500 How Plowman lerned Pater Noster 19 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 210 He coude theche a hous, and daube a wall.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. iii. f. 101 Their houses are..thetched with the stalkes of certayne towghe herbes.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 491 Reed..for to thatch their houses.
1623–4 Althorp MS. in J. N. Simpkinson Washingtons (1860) App. 53 To Phipp one daie theshing the dove house.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 66 The Houses are low, and Thatched with Oleas of the Cocoe-Trees.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 135 Many of the churches are thatched with heath.
1865 F. Parkman Huguenots iv, in Pioneers of France in New World 49 The buildings of the fort were all thatched..with leaves of the palmetto.
3. figurative. To cover as with thatch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > with or as with specific other things
clodc1420
pavea1425
foamc1540
overstain1559
thatch1589
sinew1592
to ice over1602
curd1654
overfleece1717
fleece1730
stucco1774
oversmoke1855
bepaper1861
beboulder1862
overflower1876
sack1880
overglass1883
to board over1885
pad1885
lather1917
cobweb1928
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet C iv If that Martin could thatch vp his Church, this mans scabship should bee an Elder.
1604 T. Middleton Ant & Nightingale sig. E4 My chin was well thatcht with a beard.
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia v. 166 Mount Æmus now was thatch't with snow.
1662 H. Hibbert Exercitationes Theologicæ 135 in Syntagma Theologicum Their faces thatcht over with impudence.
a1683 J. Owen Wks. (1851) VIII. 584 One lie must be thatched with another, or it will quickly rain through.
1830 W. Scott Black Dwarf i, in Tales of my Landlord (new ed.) I. 6 (note) His head..was thatched with no other covering than long matted red hair.
1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 24 What if trade..thatch with towns the prairie broad.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. i. v. 61 As if there was cloth enough..to thatch the Arctic Zone.
4. Of a thing: To serve as a covering or roof to; to cover, to roof.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > form or act as covering for
bredeOE
thatchc1000
wryOE
umhilla1340
coverc1340
curea1400
overmantle1591
obduct1623
overface1632
obduce1657
cap1735
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 242 Sio filmen [of the milt] biþ þeccende & wreonde þa wambe & þa innofaran.
1664 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders (new ed.) i. sig. d3v Leaves of Trees do thatch their Domiciliums.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. ix. 138 The shock of hair that thatched his head.
5. intransitive. To do thatching; to thatch houses.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (intransitive)] > roof > thatch
thacka1100
thatch1377
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xix. 232 Somme he tauȝte to tilie to dyche & to thecche.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 264 To hedge, to ditch, to thrash, to thetch, to mowe.
1795 J. Aikin & A. L. Barbauld Evenings at Home vi. 105 Gubba. Can you thatch? There is a piece blown off the cow-house. Alfred. Alas! I cannot thatch.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1398v.OE