different between zilch vs milch

English

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested as Zilch, a placeholder surname (compare John Doe) in the American humor magazine Ballyhoo in 1931. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: z?lch, IPA^(key): /z?lt?/
• Rhymes: -?lt?

Noun

zilch (countable and uncountable, plural zilches)

1. (countable, informal, archaic) A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonentity

   • 1931 July, Ballyhoo, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 1:

     President Henry P. Zilch. Chairman of the Board Charles D. Zilch. Treasurer Otto Zilch.

   • 1932 February, Ballyhoo, Vol. II, No. 1:

     Bernarr MacZilch [for Bernarr Macfadden] and His Dynamic-Hooey System... The WEAKLING Who Became 'The World's Most Perfect Ass!'

   • 1940, Lester V. Berrey & al., The American Thesaurus of Slang, §184:

     Dinglegoofer, Mr. Zilch, indefinite nicknames.

2. (uncountable, informal) Nothing, zero.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nothing

Translations

Adjective

zilch (not comparable)

1. (informal, chiefly US) No, zero, non-existent.
   • 1966, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

     Zilch, adj. Nothing, zero...

   • 1977 February 3, The Telegraph, p. 14:

     ...gorgeous faces but zilch talent...

Verb

zilch (third-person singular simple present zilches, present participle zilching, simple past and past participle zilched)

1. (informal, US sports) To cause to score nothing, to thoroughly defeat.
   • 1969, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

     We zilched them on that rubber.

   • 1990 April 2, USA Today, p. 20:

     My favorite film of 1989 got zilched... That would be Field of Dreams.

Synonyms

• shutout

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “zilch”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• “zilch, n. (and adj.).”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1986
• “zilch, v.”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1993

English

Etymology

From Middle English milche, melche, from Old English *mel?e, *mil?e (attested in þrimil?e, þrimel?es m?naþ), from Proto-Germanic *milkijaz, from Proto-Germanic *melkaz (“milky, milk-giving”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?mel?- (“to wipe, wipe off, milk”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian meelk (“milch”), Low German melke (“milch”), German melk (“milk-giving, milch”), Alemannic German mëlch (“milch, milkable”), Icelandic milkur, mjólkur (“milk-giving”). More at milk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?lt??/
• Rhymes: -?lt?

Adjective

milch (not comparable)

1. (dated, of a cow or other livestock) Used to produce milk; dairy.
2. (dated, of a mammal) Currently producing milk for its offspring.
   • 1593, William Shakespeare, "Venus and Adonis"

     She wildly breaketh from their strict embrace / Like a milch doe, whose swelling dugs do ache / Hasting to feed her fawn, hid in some break.

   • you must house your Milch-cows

3. (obsolete) Tender; pitiful; weeping.

Usage notes

• Used in terms such as milch cow or milch goat.

Derived terms

• milch-maid
• milch-wench
• milch-woman
• milchy

Translations

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• meljch, mélch, mélläch

Etymology

From Old High German miluh, from Proto-Germanic *meluks. Cognate with German Milch, Dutch melk, English milk, Swedish mjölk, Gothic ???????????????????????? (miluks).

Noun

milch f

1. (Issime, Carcoforo) milk

References

• “milch” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• milach (Timau)
• milich (Sauris)

Etymology

From Old High German miluh, from Proto-Germanic *meluks. Cognate with German Milch, Dutch melk, English milk, Swedish mjölk, Gothic ???????????????????????? (miluks).

Noun

milch f

1. (Sappada) milk

References

• “milch” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Cimbrian

Etymology

From Old High German miluh, from Proto-Germanic *meluks. Cognate with German Milch, Dutch melk, English milk, Swedish mjölk, Gothic ???????????????????????? (miluks).

Noun

milch f

1. (Luserna, Sette Comuni) milk

References

• “milch” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German milch, milich, from Old High German miluh, from Proto-West Germanic *meluk, from Proto-Germanic *meluks (“milk”). Cognate with German Milch, English milk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /milx/

Noun

milch f

1. milk

References

• Anthony R. Rowley, Liacht as de sproch: Grammatica della lingua mòchena Deutsch-Fersentalerisch, TEMI, 2003.