Past tense of patch; to fix or cover a hole or damaged area with a piece of material, or to repair something temporarily.
From Middle English 'pache,' possibly from Old French 'piece' meaning 'piece.' The word became common for literally attaching pieces of cloth to worn items, and metaphorically for quick fixes.
Software updates are often called 'patches'—the term comes from sewing and repairs but perfectly describes how programmers apply small fixes to larger programs. It's a beautiful example of old technical language (from tailoring) becoming new technical language (for coding).
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