> Etymology: In Promp. Parv., 1440, hytche-n ; in 16–17th cent. also without h , see itch v.2; apparently identical in sense with early Middle English icche(n v. If these are in origin the same word, it is equally difficult to explain the loss of h in the one, and its addition in the other form. In some uses hitch is equivalent in sense to Scots and northern hotch, with which, if the h is original, it may be radically cognate. No related word appears in the cognate languages. The connection of branches I and II is also uncertain.