swatch

English

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swatch¹

  • /swɒtʃ/ UK
  • /swɔt͡ʃ/ US
  • /swɑt͡ʃ/ US

Rhymes with -ɒtʃ

Where it comes from

From earlier Northern England dialectal swache (“the counterfoil or counterstock of a tally”) (1512); further etymology unknown. Cognate with Scots swach, swatch. Compare English swath, swathe. Compare also Old English swæcc (“taste; flavour; odour; fragrance”).

noun swatches

  1. A piece, pattern, or sample, generally of cloth or a similar material. He held a swatch of the wallpaper up to see if the colors would match the room.
  2. A selection of such samples bound together. “Aisha, access the Pupa's informational color swatches. Okay, royal blue means the Pupa has kennel cough, cornflower blue means one of us just had a sex dream about the other one, navy blue means his Hulu plan is expiring, robin's egg blue means we get a free Xbox, Pacific blue means we all die at m
  3. figuratively A clump or portion of something. I found myself truly moved by a stage event for the first time in years. I found myself humming tunes that one might not rightfully call tunes. Days later, I still remember these musical phrasings in little swatches of sound.
  4. figuratively A demonstration, an example, a proof. Pray Sir, pay off the Old Debt, before I truſt you more New. This is a Swatch of Your Faith, and how much You are a Man of Your Word.
  5. Northern England, obsolete 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. ITEM that the said Clerkis of the Brevements entre all the Taillis of the Furniunturs in the Jornall Booke in the Countynghous every day furthwith after the Brede be delyveret to the Pantre and then the Stoke [i.e., main part] of the Taill to by delyveret to the Baker and the Swache to the Pantler.

verb swatches · swatching · swatched

  1. To create a swatch, especially a sample of knitted fabric. Swatching is important in knitting to obtain the correct gauge.

swatch²

  • /swɒtʃ/ UK
  • /swɔt͡ʃ/ US
  • /swɑt͡ʃ/ US

Rhymes with -ɒtʃ

Where it comes from

Unknown; originally used chiefly in the East of England.

noun swatches

  1. UK A channel or passage of water between sandbanks, or between a sandbank and a seashore. It muſt be obſerved, that the paſſages, called Cockerlees, are no other than ſwatches through the Long-Sand.

Swatch³

Where it comes from

From second watch or Swiss watch.

proper noun

  1. A brand of relatively inexpensive Swiss analog watches.

Translations

Every language

noun a piece, pattern, or sample

Españoltrozo, muestra
Portuguêsamostra
Françaismotif, échantillon
Русскийобразе́ц obrazéc

noun selection of such samples bound together

Françaisensemble

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Cite this
MLA

"swatch." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/swatch. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

swatch. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/swatch

Chicago

"swatch." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/swatch.

BibTeX
@misc{swatch_2026,
  title = {swatch},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/swatch},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}