What does eche mean?
Eche is an archaic English verb meaning to increase, enlarge, or add to something, and it is best understood as an older spelling of the modern word "eke." In practice it appears chiefly in the phrase "to eche out" (today "to eke out"), which describes making a scarce resource last longer — whether by supplementing it with something else or by stretching it through careful use. A family might have ech ed out their winter stores with foraged food, or a labourer might eche out meagre wages with occasional side work. The verb descends from the Old English ēacian, meaning to increase, and shares a distant root with words such as "augment" and "auction." Although "eche" has fallen out of everyday use and would look like a misspelling to most modern readers, it survives vividly inside the idiom "to eke out a living," where the old sense of scraping together and extending scarce means remains fully alive.
verbAn archaic verb meaning to increase, enlarge, or add to something; a historical variant of the word now usually spelled "eke." It survives mainly in the phrase "to eche out," meaning to make a supply last longer by adding to it or using it sparingly.
- To increase, enlarge, or add to something (archaic).
- To make a limited supply last longer by supplementing or economizing on it, especially in the phrase "to eche (or eke) out."
"The travellers eked out their dwindling provisions with berries gathered along the way."
"The family eked out their flour with ground acorns through the hard winter."
"He managed to eche out his meagre wages by taking in odd jobs on weekends."
Long before anyone said they were "eking out a living," English speakers said they were "eching it out" — same word, just wearing its medieval spelling.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eche
Eche derives from the Old English verb ēacian, "to increase or augment," itself formed on the noun ēaca, "an increase," from a Germanic root that ultimately connects to the Indo-European root *aug- seen in Latin augēre. The spelling "eche" was a common Middle English and Early Modern English variant alongside "eke" and "ece," before "eke" became the standard form. Its distant cousins include "augment," "auction," and "author," all traceable through Latin to the same root of growth and increase.
How eche is actually used
This word is archaic in modern English; readers today will almost always encounter the standard spelling "eke," typically in the fossilized expression "to eke out" (a living, an existence, supplies). Using "eche" outside historical or dialectal contexts would strike most readers as an error.
Easily confused with eche
"Each" is a determiner and pronoun referring to every one of a group individually, while "eche" is an archaic verb meaning to increase or supplement.
"Eke" is the standard modern spelling of the same verb; "eche" is simply an older variant spelling of it.