fetching
[fech-ing]
adjective
charming; captivating.
Origin:
1875–80;
fetch +
-ing2
Related forms
fetch·ing·ly, adverb.
un·fetch·ing, adjective.
fetch
1
[fech]
verb (used with object)
1.
to go and bring back; return with; get: to go up a hill to fetch a pail of water.
2.
to cause to come; bring: to fetch a doctor.
3.
to sell for or bring (a price, financial return, etc.): The horse fetched $50 more than it cost.
4.
Informal. to charm; captivate: Her beauty fetched the coldest hearts.
5.
to take (a breath).
verb (used without object)
11.
to go and bring things.
12.
Chiefly Nautical. to move or maneuver.
13.
Hunting. to retrieve game (often used as a command to a dog).
14.
to go by an indirect route; circle (often followed by around or about ): We fetched around through the outer suburbs.
noun
15.
the act of fetching.
16.
the distance of fetching: a long fetch.
17.
Oceanography.
a.
an area where ocean waves are being generated by the wind.
b.
the length of such an area.
18.
the reach or stretch of a thing.
19.
a trick; dodge.
Verb phrases
20.
fetch about, Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to come onto a new tack.
21.
fetch up,
a.
Informal. to arrive or stop.
b.
Older Use. to raise (children); bring up: She had to fetch up her younger sisters.
c.
Nautical. (of a vessel) to come to a halt, as by lowering an anchor or running aground; bring up.
Idioms
22.
fetch and carry, to perform menial tasks.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English fecchen, Old English fecc(e)an, variant of fetian to fetch (compare Middle English feten, fetten, British dialect fet; akin to Old English -fat in sīthfat journey, German fassen to grasp)
Related forms
fetch·er, noun.
Collins
World English Dictionary
fetching (ˈfɛtʃɪŋ)
—
adj
1. attractively befitting:
a fetching hat
2. charming:
a fetching personality
'fetchingly
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
fetching
1580s, "crafty, scheming," prp. adj. from
fetch. The sense of "alluring, fascinating" is by 1880.
---
The last lines are probably the origin of the word "fetcher" as an insult, implying that one is a schemer and untrustworthy. Possibly also, though, the idea of "fetcher" as one who performs menial tasks (fetching and carrying).
