Past tense of hatch; when an egg breaks open and a baby animal is born, or when a plan or plot is secretly created.
From Old English 'hæccan' (to hatch). The literal meaning of eggs breaking open is the primary sense, while the metaphorical meaning of 'hatching a plan' (treating it like eggs developing secretly) emerged in the 15th century.
The way we use 'hatching a plot' or 'hatching a scheme' is pure metaphor—we borrowed the image of eggs secretly developing inside a shell to describe secret plans developing in people's minds. Shakespeare used this exact metaphor!
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