Cache

How to spell cache

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce cache

What does cache mean?

1. nounA hidden or secure store of items, supplies, or valuables kept for later use.
2. nounA small, fast area of memory or storage that holds recently used data so it can be retrieved quickly.

Cache in a sentence

• The police uncovered a cache of stolen jewellery beneath the floorboards.

• Clearing the browser cache often fixes pages that load incorrectly.

• The hikers buried a cache of food and water along the trail.

• The processor keeps frequently used instructions in its cache for faster access.

Where does cache come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes directly from the French noun cache, meaning a hiding place, which was formed from the verb cacher, 'to hide' or 'to conceal'. That French verb traces back to a Vulgar Latin form coacticare, meaning 'to press together' or 'to pack tightly', built on the Latin coactare, 'to constrain', itself from cogere, 'to drive together'. English borrowed the word around 1800, originally in the language of explorers and fur traders who buried provisions and supplies in concealed pits for later use. From that literal 'hidden store of goods' the meaning broadened to any secret stockpile, and in the twentieth century computing adopted it for a small, fast store of data kept close at hand. The spelling trap is double: the silent French -che ending sounds exactly like 'cash', and the word is easily confused with that everyday money word and with 'cachet', which adds a final -t and means prestige.

How the word is built

• cache (from French cacher: to hide); the final -e is the French verb ending preserved in English

Words that sound like cache

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• cash: Money in the form of coins and banknotes, rather than cheques or cards.