*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of sass

Variant of sauce.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To talk, to talk back. · To speak insolently to.

noun

The quality of being sassy. · Backtalk, cheek, sarcasm. · Vegetables used in making sauces. · A subgenre of screamo music.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Variant of sauce.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "sauce",
      "sauce#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To talk, to talk back.",
        "To speak insolently to."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "informal",
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "31298a4cc994170704a307d91116c356accee299e9a98067d3154e0d3f4f88f2",
      "rawRecordSha256": "137ef2fbd3a34c6b4c998584b9216d78d3e08b8c77aa46e49dd74a150966cfe1",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 285091
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The quality of being sassy.",
        "Backtalk, cheek, sarcasm.",
        "Vegetables used in making sauces.",
        "A subgenre of screamo music."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "US",
        "archaic"
      ],
      "recordId": "504179f79749d6d3647906fc4c8a09c9ca2f42f5729fc382ed024bc2c0ee4419",
      "rawRecordSha256": "485a1ff3029654b63b77274a9ec5a13d7f1eeb4d5bca87398ae4236f0a36201c",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 285090
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for sass →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c2Fzcw