cinch

Where does the word "cinch" come from? It comes from Latin cingula, passing through Spanish before entering English (1850s).

Cinch’s story begins in Latin: cingula meant “girdle.” A girdle, from 'cingere', to gird. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Spanish as cincha. A saddle girth. It reached English by 1850s as cinch. From a tight girth, 'a cinch' came to mean a sure thing by the 1880s. Today, cinch means a saddle girth; a certainty.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient cingula "girdle", a girdle, from 'cingere', to gird.
2. Stage 2 · Spanish · medieval cincha "saddle girth", a saddle girth.
3. Stage 3 · American English · 1850s cinch "girth; certainty", from a tight girth, 'a cinch' came to mean a sure thing by the 1880s.