swatch

Meanings

Noun

• A piece, pattern, or sample, generally of cloth or a similar material.
• A selection of such samples bound together.
• A clump or portion of something.
• A demonstration, an example, a proof.
• A tag or other small object attached to another item as a means of identifying its owner; a tally; specifically the counterfoil of a tally.
• A channel or passage of water between sandbanks, or between a sandbank and a seashore.

Verb

• To create a swatch, especially a sample of knitted fabric.

Origin

• From earlier Northern England dialectal swache (1512); further etymology unknown. Cognate with Scots swach, swatch. Compare English swath, swathe. Compare also Old English swæcc.
• Origin unknown; originally used chiefly in the East of England.