Pech

Proper noun

Pech

1. An indigenous Amerindian language spoken in Honduras.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Pech terms

Anagrams

• EHCP, ceph, hep C

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɛx]

Proper noun

Pech m anim (female equivalent Pechová)

1. a male surname

Further reading

• “Pech”, in Příjmení.cz (in Czech)

Etymology

From Middle High German pech, bech, from Old High German peh, beh, from Proto-West Germanic *pik (“pitch, tar, wood resin”).

The form is unusual as it shows unshifted p-, but shifted -ch, even though the shift of initial p- to pf- occurred later than that of postvocalic -k to -ch. Theodor Frings therefore considered that the word was at first restricted to West Central German along the Rhine (which lacks the pf-shift) and only spread to Upper German slightly later when the shift was no longer active. (Middle High German pfich occurs only once in a Central German text from the 14th century and is thus probably a hypercorrection.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛç/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛç

Noun

Pech n (strong, genitive Pechs or Peches, plural Peche)

1. (usually uncountable) pitch (sticky substance)
2. (uncountable) bad luck, misfortune

   Synonym: Unglück

   Antonym: Glück

   Pech haben ― to be unlucky

   • 1983, “Ich bin müde”, Rio Reiser (lyrics), Wolgang Michels (music):

     Du denkst nach vorne, ich denk zurück. / Ich zieh das Pech an, du hast nur Glück.

     You think forward, I think back. / I attract bad luck, you have only luck.

Further reading

• “Pech” in Duden online
• “Pech” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Etymology

From Old High German peh, from Latin pix. Cognate with German Pech, Dutch pek, English pitch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pæɕ/

Noun

Pech m (uncountable)

1. glue
2. sticky tape
3. bad luck, misfortune

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pex]

Proper noun

Pech m pers (female equivalent Pechová)

1. a male surname

Further reading

• “Pech”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025