aitch
noun/ˈeɪt͡ʃ/
Etymology From Middle English ache, borrowed from Old French ache, from Vulgar Latin *acca. The source is unclear, but may descend from the vowelless alphabetic sequence ha ka 'H, K' (becoming [aka] when the [h] ceased to be pronounced), as K had low frequency in Late Latin. Doublet of ecchi.
1
The name of the Latin script letter H/h.
- The word hour is written with a silent aitch.
- Cockneys drop their aitches.
3 more examples
- The word length, which contains only four sounds l e ng th, is usually spell'd thus, el ee en gee tee aitch.1773 October, The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal Enlarged:
- "If you've got any drawing-room manners, or a dislike to eating peas with a knife or dropping aitches, you'd better chuck 'em away. They ain't no further use."1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 257:
- She frowned, hearing Lim Cheng Po's voice, so English, so refined, so very English upper-class. And often she had had to tell Joe about his aitches.1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 469: