Editing Inch (section)

==Name==
The English word "inch" ({{langx|ang|ynce}}) was an early borrowing from [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|uncia}}'' ("one-twelfth; [[Roman inch]]; [[Roman ounce]]").<ref>{{citation |contribution=inch, ''n.<sup>1</sup>'' |title=Oxford English Dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> The vowel change from Latin {{IPA|/u/}} to Old English {{IPA|/y/}} (which became Modern English {{IPA|/ɪ/}}) is known as [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} The consonant change from the Latin {{IPA|/k/}} (spelled ''c'') to English {{IPA|/tʃ/}} is [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalisation]]. Both were features of [[Old English phonology]]; see {{section link|Phonological history of Old English|Palatalization}} and {{section link|Germanic umlaut|I-mutation in Old English}} for more information.

"Inch" is cognate with "[[ounce]]" ({{langx|ang|ynse}}), whose separate pronunciation and spelling reflect its reborrowing in [[Middle English]] from [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] ''unce'' and ''ounce''.<ref>{{citation |contribution=ounce, ''n.<sup>1</sup>'' |title=Oxford English Dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref>

In many other European languages, the word for "inch" is the same as or derived from the word for "thumb", as a man's thumb is about an inch wide (and this was even sometimes used to define the inch<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/inch|title=Inch {{!}} unit of measurement|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>). In the [[Dutch language]] a term for inch is ''engelse duim'' (english thumb).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://onzetaal.nl/taalloket/duim-lengtemaat |title=duim - lengtemaat |publisher=Genootschap Onze Taal|access-date=22 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.omrekenen.nl/duim/ |title=duim |date=24 May 2020 |access-date=22 October 2022}}</ref> Examples include {{langx|ca|polzada}} ("inch") and ''{{lang|ca|polze}}'' ("thumb"); {{langx|cs|palec}} ("thumb"); Danish and {{langx|no|tomme}} ("inch") ''{{lang|no|tommel}}'' ("thumb"); {{langx|nl|duim}} (whence {{langx|af|duim}} and {{langx|ru|дюйм}}); {{langx|fr|pouce}}; {{lang-ka|დუიმი}}, {{langx|hu|hüvelyk}}; {{langx|it|pollice}}; {{langx|pt|polegada}} ("inch") and ''{{lang|pt|polegar}}'' ("thumb"); ("duim"); {{langx|sk|palec}} ("thumb"); {{langx|es|pulgada}} ("inch") and ''{{lang|es|pulgar}}'' ("thumb"); and {{langx|sv|tum}} ("inch") and ''tumme'' ("thumb").