itching

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪt͡ʃɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtʃɪŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle English ecchinge, ȝitchinge, ʒicchinde, ʒichande (also unassibilated as yckyng), from Old English ġiċċende (“itching”), from Proto-West Germanic *jukkjandi, present participle of *jukkjan (“to itch”), equivalent to itch +‎ -ing.

Verb

itching

1. present participle and gerund of itch

Derived terms

• itchingly

Etymology 2

From Middle English icchynge, ichynge, ycchenge, yecchyng, ʒicchunge (also unassibilated as ʒykynge), equivalent to itch +‎ -ing.

Noun

itching (plural itchings)

1. A sensation that itches.

   Synonym: pruritus (medicine)

   • 1856, Forbes Winslow, The Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology, page 71:

     Itchings, hitherto unknown, are felt all over the body, and render my skin sometimes painfully tender, sometimes quite benumbed, as if it were dead.

Derived terms

• itching powder

See also

• pruritic