How did hutch get its name?

Answer 1

Hutch is defined as

1. 1a a chest or compartment for storage (1b) a cupboard with open shelves
   
2. a pen or coop for an animal
3. shack, shanty

Merriam-Webster and other online sources say the word hutch comes from "Middle English: from Old French huche, from medieval Latin hutica, of unknown origin. The original sense was ‘storage chest’."

"1275-1325; Middle English hucche, variant of whucce, Old English hwicce chest." And Middle English huche, from Anglo-French. On the bottom of the Merriam-Webster page is a picture of a cupboard hutch.

Apparently, use of the phrase "rabbit hutch" evolved later than the hutch as a cupboard or chest.