Hunch
/hʌntʃ/noun
A rounded bump or a feeling or guess formed without full evidence.
Did you know?The verb and noun developed from an old English dialect word meaning “to push or nudge,” so a hunch began as something physical before it became intuition.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*keng-
“to bend, curve, or arch”
Old English / Old Norse
Germanic
*hunk- / *hnuk-
“a lump, protuberance, or pushing motion”
15th Century
English
hunch(e)
“a push, shove, or thrust”
16th–17th Century
English
hunch
“a hump or rounded protuberance”
19th Century
English
hunch
“an intuitive feeling or premonition”