thatch

• IPA^(key): /θæt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ætʃ

Variant of thack, from Middle English thache, thach, from Old English þæc (“roof-covering”), from Proto-West Germanic *þak, from Proto-Germanic *þaką (“covering”), from (o-grade of) Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“cover”).

Cognate with Icelandic þak, Dutch dak, German Dach, Norwegian tak, Swedish tak, Danish tag; and with Latin toga, Albanian thak (“awn, beard, pin, peg, tassel, fringe”), Lithuanian stogas (“roof”). Related to Ancient Greek τέγος (tégos, “roof”) and στέγη (stégē, “roof”). See also English deech, deck.

thatch (countable and uncountable, plural thatches)

1. Straw, rushes, or similar, used for making or covering the roofs of buildings, or of stacks of hay or grain.
   • 1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 7”, in Imago, page 210:

     Just over halfway up, we reached the Human settlement with its houses of stone and wood and thatch. This was a prewar place.

2. (Caribbean) Any of several kinds of palm, the leaves of which are used for thatching.
3. A buildup of cut grass, stolons or other material on the soil in a lawn.
   • 2015 May 30, Rob Kuznia, “California turns to fake grass in response to drought”, in The Guardian‎:

     Mark Ladd, the venue’s assistant director of operations, notes that the fake greenery looks authentic: the height and colour of the blades are varied, with a few brown ones thrown in to emulate dead thatch.

4. (by extension) Any straw-like material, such as a person's hair.
   • 2008, Wallace Madding, The Country Club Killings: A Montana Story, page 21:

     An outgoing, story-telling Irishman from Butte, Montana, with his thatch of red hair and sandpapered face, Matt was the quintessential imp.

• (straw for covering roofs or stacks): haulm

From Middle English thacchen, from Old English þeċċan, þeċċean (“to cover”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną (“to cover”), from Proto-Germanic *þaką (“cover, covering”, noun) (see above).

Cognate with West Frisian dekke, Dutch dekken, German decken, Danish tække, Swedish täcka. Alteration of vowel after Middle English perhaps due to the above noun.

thatch (third-person singular simple present thatches, present participle thatching, simple past and past participle thatched)

1. To cover the roof with straw, reed, leaves, etc.

• hatcht