Tetchy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtÉ›tʃi/

Origin

1592, teachie, in Romeo and Juliet,

.

Presumably from Middle English tatch, tache, tecche, teche ("blemish"), influenced by touchy, from Old French tache, teche (Modern French tache), from Vulgar Latin *tacca, from Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌺𐌽𐍃 (taikns, "sign") (compare Old English tacen ("sign, token"), Modern English token), from Proto-Indo-European *deik-.

Online Etymology Dictionary

American Heritage Dictionary: "tetchy" etymology

T. F. HOAD. "tetchy." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Jan. 2010.

Full definition of tetchy

Adjective

1. Easily annoyed or irritated; peevish, testy or irascible
• 1592, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliette, , (Nurse speaking, spelling modernized):When it did taste the wormwood on the nippleOf my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool,To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!

Related terms

• tetchily
• tetchiness