Titches

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Small marks or spots of minor significance ; tiny amounts or portions ; informal term for very small children or people
2. Slight specks or dots ; minimal or negligible quantities ; affectionate word for youngsters or little ones
3. Minor traces or flecks ; barely noticeable bits ; colloquial nickname for small children or those who are diminutive

Etymology: Ironically, the word "titches" is a plural whose singular form is itself the newcomer. Its best-supported origin lies with Harry Relph, a music hall performer of the 1880s who took the stage name Little Tich, a nickname the public soon applied to him. His small stature and comic dancing made him famous, and "tich" or "titch" came to mean a small person or thing, which is how a stage name became an everyday word. Some scholars also suggest a possible link to Old English "ticcen", meaning "young goat", though this connection is less certain than the music hall origin. Separately, "titch" may have been influenced by older dialect forms of "touch" and by a colloquial pronunciation of "teach", but these are less direct contributors to the modern sense.

Synonyms: itches, pricks, tingles, stings, pins and needles