Past tense of the archaic or dialectal verb 'to eche,' meaning to increase, eke out, or augment.
From Middle English 'echen,' related to 'eke' (to supplement or make something last), from Old English 'eacan' (to increase). Historically used in Northern English and Scottish dialects.
This ancient word is the grandfather of 'eke out'—it meant to stretch resources to make them last longer, a survival strategy so important medieval people made it a core vocabulary word.
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