Etymology
1. O.E.
feccan, apparently a variant of
fetian, fatian "to fetch, bring, to marry," probably from P.Gmc.
*fatojanan (cf. O.N.
feta "to find one's way," O.H.G.
sih faggon "to mount, climb"), related to O.E.
fot "foot." Variant form
fet, a derivation of the older O.E. version of the word, survived as a competitor until 17c.
Fetching (adj.) appeared 1581 meaning "crafty, scheming;" the sense of "alluring, fascinating" is 1880.
2. The verb is derived from Middle English fecchen (“to get and bring back, fetch; to come for, get and take away; to steal; to carry away to kill; to search for; to obtain, procure”) [and other forms], from Old English feċċan, fæċċan, feccean (“to fetch, bring; to draw; to gain, take; to seek”), a variant of fetian, fatian (“to bring near, fetch; to acquire, obtain; to bring on, induce; to fetch a wife, marry”) and possibly related to Old English facian, fācian (“to acquire, obtain; to try to obtain; to get; to get to, reach”), both from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to hold, seize; to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”).
3. The English word is cognate with Dutch vatten (“to apprehend, catch; to grasp; to understand”), German fassen (“to catch, grasp; to capture, seize”), English fet (“(obsolete) to fetch”), Faroese fata (“to grasp, understand”), Danish fatte (“to grasp, understand”), Swedish fatta (“to grasp, understand”), Icelandic feta (“to go, step”), West Frisian fetsje (“to grasp”).
4. The noun is derived from the verb. See: Middle English '
fecchen', Old English '
facian', Proto-Germanic '
*fatōną', Dutch '
vatten', German, old spelling '
fassen', English '
fet', Faroese '
fata', Danish '
fatte', Swedish '
fatta', Icelandic '
feta'.
Verbs referencing "fetch"
Norwegian, nynorsk
fata, German, old spelling
fassen, Luxembourgish
faassen.