botch [LME] The first meaning of botch was simply ‘to repair’, with no implication of clumsiness or lack of skill. By the early 17th century it seems to have taken on its modern meaning, and Shakespeare’s use of the noun in Macbeth (c.1603) makes this clear: ‘To leave no rubs nor botches in the Work.’ Bodge [M16th] is the same word as botch, but always had the negative meaning. The origin of the word is unknown.