Ouche
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A brooch or clasp for fastening a piece of clothing together, especially when set with jewels or valuable. historical, poetic
"My huſbonde had a legende of his lyfe^([sic – meaning wyfe?]) / Eriphilem that for an ouche of golde / Hath preuely vnto the grekes tolde / Where that hir huſbonde hyd him in a place / For which he had at Thebes ſory grace."
Example
More examples"My huſbonde had a legende of his lyfe^([sic – meaning wyfe?]) / Eriphilem that for an ouche of golde / Hath preuely vnto the grekes tolde / Where that hir huſbonde hyd him in a place / For which he had at Thebes ſory grace."
Etymology
From Middle English ouche, from nouche, which in phrases like a nouche was re-analyzed as an ouche (rebracketing). From Anglo-Norman nusche and Old French nusche (with metanalysis), from a Germanic source; compare German Nusche, Proto-Germanic *hnuts.
More for "ouche"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.