Small pieces of material used to mend holes or strengthen weak areas; small distinct areas or sections.
From Middle English 'pacche', possibly from Old French 'pieche' meaning 'piece'. The word originally referred to cloth pieces used for mending, then expanded to mean any small distinct area or temporary fix.
The word 'patches' beautifully illustrates semantic broadening - starting as literal cloth repairs, it now describes everything from software updates to vegetable gardens to bad weather areas. In computing, 'patches' maintain the metaphor of fixing holes, but now in code rather than fabric.
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