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Inch

3 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot (2.54 cm)

Where does the word "inch" come from? It comes from Latin uncia, passing through Old English before entering English (1300s).

uncia→ynce→inch

Latin · classical

'a twelfth part', of a foot or of a pound; the same word later reached English again through French as 'ounce'

Old English · medieval

borrowed directly from Latin; the laws of King Æthelberht of Kent (c. 600) measure wounds in 'inches'

English · 1300s

"unit of length"

an English statute traditionally dated to 1324 defined the inch as three barleycorns; since 1959 it has been exactly 25.4 mm by international agreement

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Read the full story

Inch’s story begins in Latin: uncia meant “twelfth part.” 'a twelfth part', of a foot or of a pound; the same word later reached English again through French as 'ounce'. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old English as ynce. Borrowed directly from Latin; the laws of King Æthelberht of Kent (c. 600) measure wounds in 'inches'. It reached English by 1300s as inch. An English statute traditionally dated to 1324 defined the inch as three barleycorns; since 1959 it has been exactly 25.4 mm by international agreement. Today, inch means a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot (2.54 cm).