A Cinch Was a Saddle Strap Before It Was Easy
A cinch is something very easy, or a firm grip. The word came from Spanish, where it names the strap that holds a saddle on.
A cinch is something easy to do, or a firm hold on something. The word is Spanish *cincha*, the girth strap that holds a saddle on a horse, borrowed into American English through cowboy vocabulary. A rider with a well-cinched saddle had a secure grip, so *a cinch* came to mean a sure thing, and from there simply an easy one. The verb survives literally in *cinch the belt*, meaning to pull it tight.
- Something easy. *The exam was a cinch.*
- A firm hold. *He had a cinch on the deal.*
- A saddle girth. *Tighten the cinch.*
- To pull tight. *Cinch the strap.*
- Cinched — pulled in at the waist. *A cinched waist.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cinch | An absolute cinch. |
| Verb | cinch | Cinch it tight. |
| Past | cinched | She cinched the belt. |
| Adjective | cinched | A cinched jacket. |
| Spanish | cincha | A saddle girth. |
- Finding the place was a cinch.Easy.
- Cinch the strap before mounting.Literal.
- The coat is cinched at the waist.Fashion.
Spanish words from the cattle trail
- Cinch — *cincha*, a saddle girth
- Lasso — *lazo*, a loop
- Rodeo — *rodear*, to surround
- Corral — an enclosure for livestock
- Stampede — from *estampida*, a crash or uproar
Spanish *cincha*, a saddle girth, from Latin *cingula*, a belt, from *cingere*, to gird. English recorded it in the 1850s.
What does cinch mean literally?
The girth strap that secures a saddle. The figurative sense of an easy or certain thing grew from having a firm hold.
Is a cinch the same as a sure thing?
Nearly. A cinch originally meant certain, and only later widened to mean easy.