scratched
Meaning
to rub your skin with your nails, often because it itches
to make a slight cut or long, thin mark on a surface or skin with something sharp
to remove something from a surface by rubbing it with something sharp or rough
to decide not to do something that you had planned
Structure
Usage
the cat scratched the sofa leg.
he scratched his head, puzzled by the difficult question.
we had to scratch our vacation plans due to the bad weather forecast.
Etymology
the verb 'scratch' entered middle english from a convergence of two similar old english verbs, 'cratchen' and 'scratten', both imitative of the sound and action of scraping or clawing. these are believed to have germanic roots, possibly related to the old high german 'krazzon', meaning to scratch. the modern form 'scratched' is built by simply appending the common germanic past tense suffix '-ed', which has been the standard marker for regular verbs in english since old english. thus, 'scratched' directly conveys the completed action of making a scraping mark or abrasion, its form and core meaning faithfully preserved from its onomatopoeic origins.
Analysis
scratch (middle english, from a blend of 'cratchen' meaning to scratch and 'scratten' meaning to scratch, likely of germanic origin); ed (old english, past tense and past participle suffix for weak verbs).