from scratch

English

Etymology

From the scratch drawn in the ground serving as the starting line of a foot race. A runner “starting from scratch” received no handicap, but started at the beginning of the course.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

from scratch

1. (idiomatic) From the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.

   There were so many errors in the program that the programmer decided to rewrite it from scratch.

   When the writer finished writing his book, it was stolen and now he has to rewrite it from scratch.

   He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch.

   • 1980, Carl Sagan, Cosmos:

     If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

   • 2006, Ioana V. Bazavan, Ian Lim, Information Security Cost Management, page 198:

     The advantages are that you may be able to build your services more quickly because you would not be starting from scratch, and you would proved a very friendly experience for your users, potentially eliminating or at least decreasing a variety of status inquiries and the possibility of missubmitting requests.

2. (idiomatic) From basic materials or raw ingredients.

   She said she wanted to build a new house from scratch.

   He was out of pancake mix so he had to make the batter from scratch.

   • 2002, The New Yorker:

     He sat there Friday night and built an entire model ship from scratch.

   • 2019 October 23, Rail, page 21:

     "By having a research and design facility in north Derbyshire, we will once again build trains from scratch on our shores."

Related terms

• from the ground up
• scratch-built
• scratch made

Translations

from the beginning

• Afrikaans: van die begin af
• Bulgarian: започвам отначало (započvam otnačalo)
• Catalan: des de zero, de cap i de nou, des del principi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 從頭做起／从头做起 (cóngtóu zuòqǐ), 從頭開始／从头开始 (cóngtóu kāishǐ), 從頭開始／从头开始 (cóngtóu kāishǐ), (of a business) 白手起家 (zh) (báishǒuqǐjiā)

• Dutch: vanaf nul, helemaal opnieuw, vanaf het begin
• Finnish: tyhjästä, alusta alkaen
• French: à partir de zéro, de zéro
• Georgian: ნოლიდან (nolidan), თავიდან (tavidan)
• German: von Grund auf, von neuem, von der Pike auf
• Hungarian: elölről (hu)
• Italian: da capo, di sana pianta, dal nulla, ex novo (it)
• Japanese: 最初から (saisho kara), ゼロから (ja) (zero kara), ゼロの状態から (zero no jōtai kara)
• Norwegian: fra bunnen av
• Persian: از اول (az avval)
• Polish: od nowa (pl), od początku, od zera
• Portuguese: do nada (pt), do zero (pt)
• Russian: с чи́стого листа́ (s čístovo listá), с нуля́ (ru) (s nuljá), с са́мого нача́ла (s sámovo načála)
• Spanish: desde cero, de cero, ex novo
• Turkish: baştan (tr), sıfırdan

from raw ingredients

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 用原料來...／用原料来... (yòng yuánliào lái...)

• Dutch: vanaf het begin
• Finnish: raaka-aineista
• Italian: dal nulla
• Japanese: 手作り (ja) (tezukuri)
• Latin: ex nihilo n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} à partir de zéro, ^{(please verify)} de zéro
• German: ^{(please verify)} von Grund auf
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} del initio
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} desde cero

References

• “from scratch”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.