# latch

> English word · Verb · IPA /læt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #18,605

## Definitions
1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
2. To catch; lay hold of.
3. To use a latch (kind of lightweight lock).
4. To connect to the breast.

## Etymology
From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

## Easily confused with
- **late** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-late)
- **loch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-loch)
- **later** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-later)
- **laugh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-laugh)
- **lunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-lunch)
- **Latin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-latin)
- **lynch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-lynch)
- **latex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-latex)
- **latte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-latte)
- **leach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-leach)
- **leech** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-leech)
- **lathe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-lathe)
- **lurch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-lurch)
- **Latif** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-latif)
- **loath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-loath)
- **launch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-launch)
- **latches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-latches)
- **lac** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lac-vs-latch)
- **LAT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lat-vs-latch)
- **lah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lah-vs-latch)

## Common misspellings (8)
`altch`, `lacth`, `latcch`, `latchh`, `lathc`, `lattch`, `llatch`, `ltach`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/latch