Question: In the Chandogya Upanishad, the word “मटची” “maTacI” is used to
describe famine in the Kuru kingdom.

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> “मटचीहतेषु कुरुष्वाटिक्या सह जायया उषस्तिर्ह चाक्रायण इभ्यग्रामे
>  प्रद्राणक उवास” (1.10.1).
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Apparently according to different internet forums this word was adopted from kannada or telugu, it means locusts or hailstones.

Does this word has any parallel in any sanskrit dictionaries, etymologies or words?

Answer: 
There is a commentary ([source](https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/chandogya-upanishad-english/d/doc238794.html)) based on Shankara’s bhasya that parallels the word ‘maṭacī’ in the Sabdakalpadruma (dictionary of sanskrit words compiled in the 19th century):

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> According to Śaṅkara, the word maṭacī means ‘fire from thunder.’ According to the Śabdakalpadruma, it refers to a species of small red birds, and according to Ānandagiri it means ‘locusts.’ Another meaning is ‘hail.’
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You can find the etymology from the relevant passage in the Sabdakalpadruma, [from archive.org](https://archive.org/details/sabdakalpadrumah03devauoft/page/566).
The Kannada word Midachi means grasshopper. Midachi actually means folding and unfolding in quick action (like triggering). As grasshopper mimics this action, so it gets the name.
Chen is Kannada word for Good or Round (ChanDa), the sanskrit word for moon is Soma. Sanskrit adds Indra to nouns to glorifies them like Maha-Indra = Mahendra, Raja-Indra = Rajendra, so Chen-Indra = Chandra