patchwork

English

Etymology

From patch +‎ work.

Noun

patchwork (countable and uncountable, plural patchworks)

1. A work, such as a blanket, composed of many different colors and shapes, sewn together to make an interesting whole.
2. (figurative) Any kind of creation that makes use of many different aspects to create one whole piece.

   Bill took all of his poetry and put it together in a folder. It made up a patchwork of his life.

   • 2022 November 17, Paul Salopek, “A ‘Slow Storytelling’ Writing and Photography Workshop Boosts Conservation in China”, in National Geographic‎^[1]:

     Everything about China is super-sized: The five new parks, which in some cases stitched together an older patchwork of conservation zones, sprawl across more than 88,800 square miles of territory—a protected area more than 25 times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States.

3. (derogatory) A state of regulations whose constituents have an opaque scope of application because of their questionable delimitation with regard to each other.
   • 2011, Bryce Clayton Newell, “Rethinking Reasonable Expectations of Privacy in Online Social Networks”, in Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, volume 17, number 4, page 5:

     Present United States privacy law – despite being made up of a patchwork federal and state constitutional, statutory, and common law – is predominantly based on the ideals of individual control, autonomy, and liberty from governmental intrusion, despite the fact that its inspiration was an idea grounded on the importance of protecting human dignity and an “inviolate personality.”

Related terms

• patchwork plagiarism
• patchwork quilt
• patchwork ruler
• patchy

 

Translations

a work composed of many different colors and shapes

• Dutch: lapwerk (nl) n, lappendeken (nl) f
• Finnish: tilkkutäkki (fi)
• Irish: obair phaistí f
• Latin: centō m
• Maori: kuira
• Norman: rapiéchage m (Jersey)
• Persian: چهل‌تکه (čehel-tekke)
• Spanish: almazuela (es)

any kind of creation that utilizes many different aspects to create one, whole piece

• Dutch: lappendeken (nl) f
• Finnish: palapeli (fi)
• Romanian: mozaic (ro) n

Verb

patchwork (third-person singular simple present patchworks, present participle patchworking, simple past and past participle patchworked)

1. To create a patchwork from pieces of fabric.
2. To assemble from a variety of sources; to cobble together.

References

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

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English patchwork.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pat.ʃwɔʁk/, /pat.ʃwœʁk/

Noun

patchwork m (plural patchworks)

1. patchwork

Further reading

• “patchwork”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English patchwork.

Noun

patchwork m (invariable)

1. patchwork (all senses)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English patchwork.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpat͡ʃwoɾk/ [ˈpa.t͡ʃwoɾk]
• Rhymes: -atʃwoɾk

Noun

patchwork m (plural patchworks)

1. patchwork

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.