Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗To put in a sack or sacks. · To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders. · To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from. · To tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, especially before he is able to throw a pass.
From Middle English sak, sek, sach, zech (“bag, sackcloth”), from Old English sacc (“sack, bag”) and sæċċ (“sackcloth, sacking”); both from Proto-West Germanic *sakku, from late Proto-Germanic *sakkuz (“sack”), borrowed from Latin saccus (“large bag”), from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “bag of coarse cloth”), from Semitic, possibly Phoenician or Hebrew. Cognate with Dutch zak, German Sack, Swedish säck, Danish sæk, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk sekk, Faroese and Icelandic sekkur, Hebrew שַׂק (śaq, “sack, sackcloth”), Aramaic סַקָּא, Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ, Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ), Akkadian 𒆭𒊓 (saqqu), Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. Doublet of sac, saccus, saco, and sakkos. Černý and Forbes suggest the word was originally Egyptian, a nominal derivative of sꜣq (“to gather or put together”) that also yielded Coptic ⲥⲟⲕ (sok, “sackcloth”) and was borrowed into Greek perhaps by way of a Semitic intermediary. However, Vycichl and Hoch reject this idea, noting that such an originally Egyptian word would be expected to yield Hebrew *סַק rather than שַׂק. Instead, they posit that the Coptic and Greek words are both borrowed from Semitic, with the Coptic word perhaps developing via Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. Sense evolution * “Pillage” senses from the use of sacks in carrying off plunder. From Middle French sac, shortened from the phrase mettre à sac (“put it in a bag”), a military command to pillage; also parallel meaning with Italian sacco (“plunder”), from Medieval Latin saccō (“pillage”). From Vulgar Latin saccare (“to plunder”), from saccus (“sack”). See also ransack. American football “tackle” sense from this “plunder, conquer” root. * “Removal from employment” senses attested since 1825; the original formula was “to give (someone) the sack”, likely from the notion of a worker going off with his tools in a sack, or being given such a sack for his personal belongings as part of an expedient severance. Idiom exists earlier in French (on luy a donné son sac, 17c.) and Middle Dutch (iemand den zak geven). English verb in this sense recorded from 1841. Current verb, to sack (“to fire”) carries influence from the forceful nature of “plunder, tackle” verb senses. * Slang meaning “bunk, bed” is attested since 1825, originally nautical, likely in reference to sleeping bags. The verb meaning “go to bed” is recorded from 1946. * Slang meaning "scrotum" is an ellipsis of ballsack.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionsakenm
- Inherited-form mentionsaccang · sack, bag
- Inherited-form mention*sakkugmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*sakkuzgem-pro · sack
- Derivation mentionsaccusla · large bag
- Derivation mentionσάκκοςgrc · bag of coarse cloth
- Cognate mentionzaknl
- Cognate mentionSackde
- Cognate mentionsäcksv
- Cognate mentionsækda
- Cognate mentionשַׂקhe
- Cognate mentionסַקָּאarc
- Cognate mentionܣܩܐsyc
- Cognate mentionሠቅgez
- Cognate mention𒆭𒊓akk
- Cognate mentionsꜣgꜣegy
- Doublet mentionsacen
- Doublet mentionsaccusen
- Doublet mentionsacoen
- Doublet mentionsakkosen
- Cognate mentionⲥⲟⲕcop
- Derivation mentionsacfrm
- Derivation mentionsaccoit
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:sak"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"coarse cloth of hair; sack, bag\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"σᾰ́κκος\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"saccus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*sakkuz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*sakku\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"sacc\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"sak\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"sack\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"sack\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "sak"
},
"expansion": "Middle English sak"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "sacc",
"t": "sack, bag"
},
"expansion": "Old English sacc (“sack, bag”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*sakku"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *sakku"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*sakkuz",
"t": "sack"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *sakkuz (“sack”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "saccus",
"t": "large bag"
},
"expansion": "Latin saccus (“large bag”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "σάκκος",
"t": "bag of coarse cloth"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “bag of coarse cloth”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "sem"
},
"expansion": "Semitic"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "phn",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Phoenician"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "zak"
},
"expansion": "Dutch zak"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Sack"
},
"expansion": "German Sack"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "säck"
},
"expansion": "Swedish säck"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "sæk"
},
"expansion": "Danish sæk"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nb,nn",
"2": "sekk"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk sekk"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo,is",
"2": "sekkur"
},
"expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic sekkur"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "he",
"2": "שַׂק",
"3": "",
"4": "sack, sackcloth",
"sc": "Hebr",
"tr": "śaq"
},
"expansion": "Hebrew שַׂק (śaq, “sack, sackcloth”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "arc",
"2": "סַקָּא"
},
"expansion": "Aramaic סַקָּא"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "syc",
"2": "ܣܩܐ"
},
"expansion": "Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gez",
"2": "ሠቅ"
},
"expansion": "Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "akk",
"2": "𒆭𒊓",
"tr": "saqqu"
},
"expansion": "Akkadian 𒆭𒊓 (saqqu)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "egy",
"2": "sꜣgꜣ"
},
"expansion": "Egyptian sꜣgꜣ"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "sac",
"3": "saccus",
"4": "saco",
"5": "sakkos"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of sac, saccus, saco, and sakkos"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cop",
"2": "ⲥⲟⲕ",
"3": "",
"4": "sackcloth"
},
"expansion": "Coptic ⲥⲟⲕ (sok, “sackcloth”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "egy",
"2": "sꜣgꜣ"
},
"expansion": "Egyptian sꜣgꜣ"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "Sense evolution"
},
"expansion": "Sense evolution"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frm",
"3": "sac"
},
"expansion": "Middle French sac"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "it",
"3": "sacco",
"4": "",
"5": "plunder"
},
"expansion": "Italian sacco (“plunder”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-med",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Medieval Latin"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-vul",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Vulgar Latin"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fr",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "French"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "dum",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch"
},
{
"name": "qualifier",
"args": {
"1": "iemand den zak geven"
},
"expansion": "(iemand den zak geven)"
},
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:sak"
},
"expansion": ""
}
],
"links": [
[
"sak",
"sak#Middle_English"
],
[
"sek",
"sek#Middle_English"
],
[
"sach",
"sach#Middle_English"
],
[
"zech",
"zech#Middle_English"
],
[
"sacc",
"sacc#Old_English"
],
[
"sæċċ",
"sæcc#Old_English"
],
[
"*sakku",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/sakku"
],
[
"*sakkuz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sakkuz"
],
[
"saccus",
"saccus#Latin"
],
[
"σάκκος",
"σάκκος#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"zak",
"zak#Dutch"
],
[
"Sack",
"Sack#German"
],
[
"säck",
"säck#Swedish"
],
[
"sæk",
"sæk#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"sekk#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"sekk",
"sekk#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"Faroese",
"sekkur#Faroese"
],
[
"sekkur",
"sekkur#Icelandic"
],
[
"שַׂק",
"שק#Hebrew"
],
[
"סַקָּא",
"סקא#Aramaic"
],
[
"ܣܩܐ",
"ܣܩܐ#Classical_Syriac"
],
[
"ሠቅ",
"ሠቅ#Ge'ez"
],
[
"𒆭𒊓",
"𒆭𒊓#Akkadian"
],
[
"sꜣgꜣ",
"sꜣgꜣ#Egyptian"
],
[
"sac",
"sac#English"
],
[
"saccus",
"saccus#English"
],
[
"saco",
"saco#English"
],
[
"sakkos",
"sakkos#English"
],
[
"sꜣq",
"sꜣq#Egyptian"
],
[
"ⲥⲟⲕ",
"ⲥⲟⲕ#Coptic"
],
[
"שַׂק",
"שק#Hebrew"
],
[
"sꜣgꜣ",
"sꜣgꜣ#Egyptian"
],
[
"sac",
"sac#Middle_French"
],
[
"sacco",
"sacco#Italian"
],
[
"saccō",
"sacco#Latin"
],
[
"saccare",
"saccare#Latin"
],
[
"saccus",
"saccus#Latin"
],
[
"ransack",
"ransack#English"
],
[
"sleeping bag",
"sleeping bag"
],
[
"ballsack",
"ballsack#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To put in a sack or sacks.",
"To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders.",
"To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from.",
"To tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, especially before he is able to throw a pass."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
],
"recordId": "8a827e7dbe84e092f93e3f8b75d35fbdf4a0813b13f8977646799fddb9dced9e",
"rawRecordSha256": "ecd27d3e4fbf8e878740956428d9859cabb69f1e7594379ecc0904aa4bab58b4",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 208942
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 2,
"glosses": 0
}
}