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Definition patch

Etymology 1

From Middle English patche, pacche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot, piece of cloth”) (for loss of l, compare pat from plat, fag from flag, etc.), probably from Old English *plæ??, *ple?? (“a spot, mark, patch”), from Proto-Germanic *plakj? (“spot, stain”), related to Middle English plecke (whence dialectal English pleck (“plot of ground, patch”)), West Frisian plak (“place, spot”), Low German Plakk, Plakke (“spot, piece, patch”), Dutch plek (“spot, place, stain, patch”), Dutch plak (“piece, slab”), Swedish plagg (“garment”), Faroese plagg (“cloth, rag”).

Alternatively, perhaps a variant of Middle English pece (“piece”), from Old French pieche (“piece”), from Vulgar Latin *pettia, probably from Gaulish pettsi (“piece, bit”). Compare also Old Occitan petaç (“patch”).

Noun

patch (plural patches)

1. A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.
2. A small piece of anything used to repair damage or a breach; as, a patch on a kettle, a roof, etc.
3. A repair intended to be used for a limited time; (differs from previous usage in that it is intended to be a temporary fix and the size of the repair is irrelevant). This usage can mean that the repair is temporary because it is an early but necessary step in the process of properly, completely repairing something,
4. A small, usually contrasting but always somehow different or distinct, part of something else (location, time, size)
5. (specifically) A small area, a small plot of land or piece of ground.
6. An area of professional responsibility
7. (historical) A small piece of black silk stuck on the face or neck to heighten beauty by contrast, worn by ladies in the 17th and 18th centuries; an imitation beauty mark.
8. (medicine) A piece of material used to cover a wound.
9. (medicine) An adhesive piece of material, impregnated with a drug, which is worn on the skin, the drug being slowly absorbed over a period of time.
10. (medicine) A cover worn over a damaged eye, an eyepatch.
11. A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting.
12. (computing) A patch file, a file that describes changes to be made to a computer file or files, usually changes made to a computer program that fix a programming bug.
13. A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.
14. A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.
15. (often patch cable, patch cord, etc.; see also patch panel) A cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment.
16. A sound setting for a musical synthesizer (originally selected by means of a patch cable).
17. (printing, historical) An overlay used to obtain a stronger impression.