The Good Oil Word of the Day

The word for today is…

notch (noun, verb) -

noun 1a: a V-shaped indentation b: a slit made to serve as a record c: a rounded indentation cut into the pages of a book on the edge opposite the spine 2: a deep close pass : gap 3: degree, step

verb 1: to cut or make a notch in 2a: to mark or record by a notch b: score, achieve — sometimes used with up

Source : Merriam-Webster

Etymology : Occasionally, you might hear a child ask for a "napple," as in "I would like a napple," mistaking the phrase "an apple" for "a napple." A similar error is believed to be behind notch, which may have resulted from a misdivision of "an otch." (Otch is a noun that is assumed to have existed in earlier English as a borrowing of Middle French oche, meaning "an incision made to keep a record.") Notch would not be alone in developing from such a mistake. The words newt and nickname were formed, respectively, from misdivisions of "an ewte" and "an ekename." Going in the other direction, umpire first appears in Middle English as oumpere, a mistaken rendering of "a noumpere."

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