# ouche

Pronunciation: say "OWCH" /aʊtʃ/

## Noun

1. A brooch or clasp for fastening a garment together, especially one set with jewels or precious stones. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A jeweled pin or clasp used to hold a piece of clothing together.
   - _The queen wore an ouche of sapphires upon her breast._
   - _Goldsmiths fashioned ouches for the nobility, each set with emeralds and pearls._

## Origin

From Middle English ouche, which arose from nouche: in phrases like 'a nouche' the word was re-analyzed as 'an ouche' (rebracketing). It comes from Anglo-Norman nusche and Old French nusche (also by metanalysis), from a Germanic source; compare German Nusche and Proto-Germanic *hnuts.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ouche (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).