Meaning

noun a small contrasting part of something

noun a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation

noun a piece of cloth used as decoration or to mend or cover a hole

originFrom Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot, piece of cloth”), from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”), from Proto-West Germanic *plakkju, from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat from Middle English platten. Germanic cognates would then include Middle English plecke,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0