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Etymology and origin of the English word sandal

English has three words spelled sandal: the shoe, the scented wood and a Levantine boat.[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • /ˈsændəl/[3]

sandal1 open shoe

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1384 Wycliffite Bible
Borrowed from
Latin sandalium via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σάνδαλον

Etymology

The word for the shoe is inherited from Middle English sandal, first as sandalie,[4][5] borrowed from Latin sandalium,[1][2][6] Barnhart and the American Heritage Dictionary also naming Old French sandale.[5][7] The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek σανδάλιον (sandálion), a diminutive of σάνδαλον (sándalon, “sandal”).[1][7][5] Beyond Greek the dictionaries part: the OED and others call its origin unknown,[1][7][3] several think it probably Asiatic or foreign, comparing Persian سندل (sandal),[8][6][9][10][11] and Klein took it from Asia Minor, from the shoe of a Lydian god Sandal.[12] Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, pointing to the variant σάμβαλον (sámbalon), and holds that the Latin and Persian words were borrowed from Greek.[13] The word has no connection with sand.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A shoe consisting of a sole held on by straps or thongs: in the early Wycliffite Bible, Mark 6:9, "schoon with sandalies", dated about 1384 by the OED and the Middle English Dictionary[1][4] and 1382 by Barnhart, who dates the form sandal to about 1425.[5] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1327.[14]

Semantic evolution

Besides the plain strapped shoe, Middle English and early modern use knew the rich ceremonial sandal: the Middle English Dictionary has one worn by popes and bishops,[4] and the OED has an embroidered half-shoe from a royal coronation in 1485.[1] In the 18th century a verb was formed from the noun, meaning to furnish with sandals.[1][6] From the end of that century the word spread to low shoes and slippers of various kinds (1794), and then to the strap that held such a shoe on (1829).[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – an open shoe with straps or thongs, as sandalie.[1][4] Barnhart gives 1382.[5]
  • 1485 – an embroidered half-shoe worn with royal or episcopal dress.[1]
  • 1688 – in heraldry, a sandal as a bearing.[1]
  • 1713 – verb, to furnish with sandals.[1]
  • 1794 – various low shoes and slippers.[1]
  • 1829 – a strap fastening a low shoe.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A light shoe with an open upper, or just a sole fastened to the foot by straps or thongs.[15][2][1]
  2. A strap over the instep or round the ankle that keeps a low shoe on.[15][2][1]
  3. A richly embroidered half-shoe forming part of the dress of a bishop or monarch.[6][1]

Verb

  1. To put sandals on; to provide with sandals.[2][6][1]
  2. To fasten with a sandal.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • sandaled
  • sandalled

sandal2 scented wood

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1400 translation of Secreta Secretorum
Borrowed from
Latin sandalum via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Sanskrit चन्दन

Etymology

The word for the wood is inherited from Middle English sandell,[16][8] borrowed from Medieval Latin sandalum,[1][16][6] also santalum,[1][2] partly through French: the American Heritage Dictionary has Old French sandale,[7] and the OED also names French sandal.[1] The Medieval Latin word is from Ancient Greek σάνταλον (sántalon),[7][16] a dissimilated variant of σάνδανον (sándanon).[16] The ultimate source appears to be Sanskrit चन्दन (candana),[1][6][3] which the American Heritage Dictionary passes through Middle Persian čandal,[7] and Wiktionary also through Arabic صندل (ṣandal).[3] The American Heritage and Merriam-Webster dictionaries call the Sanskrit word Dravidian, comparing a Tamil word for sandalwood paste.[7][2] Ayto stresses that it has nothing to do with the shoe.[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sandalwood: about 1400, in a translation of the Secreta Secretorum.[1] Etymonline has sandell from the late 14th century, and the older saundres from the early 14th.[8]

Semantic evolution

The word named the wood and, formerly, an ointment made from it when powdered.[1][6] From the 16th century the compound sandalwood took over much of its work,[8][1] and the plain word is now defined by reference to the compound.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – sandalwood, also an ointment made from it.[1] Etymonline dates sandell to the late 14th century.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sandalwood.[2][1][6]
  2. (obsolete) An ointment made of powdered sandalwood.[1][6]

Word family

  • sandalwood

sandal3 two-masted boat

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1753 T. Woodroofe, in Hanway's Historical Account of British Trade
Borrowed from
Arabic صندل

Etymology

The word for the boat is borrowed from Arabic صندل (ṣandal),[2][1][3] and the OED also names Persian سندل (sandal) and Turkish sandal.[1][6] Merriam-Webster takes the Arabic word from the Persian one, meaning a skiff.[2] The Shorter Oxford thinks they are perhaps from Ancient Greek σανδάλιον (sandálion) or σάνδαλον (sándalon),[6] and Eren holds that the Turkish word comes from a Byzantine Greek name for a type of boat, and that it passed from there into Arabic and Persian.[18] Wiktionary treats it as the shoe's name applied to a boat of that shape.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A long, narrow two-masted boat: 1753, in T. Woodroofe's account in Hanway's history of British trade.[1] The Shorter Oxford also dates it to the mid 18th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1753 – a long, narrow two-masted boat of the Levant and North Africa.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A long, narrow two-masted boat used in the eastern Mediterranean, off North Africa and on the Nile.[2][1][6]
  • santal
  • sanders
  • hipposandal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan, Nişanyan Sözlük: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojisi (online edition)
  12. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  13. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  14. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  16. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  17. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  18. ^ Eren, Hasan (1999), Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü, Ankara: Bizim Büro

Related etymologies

  • syrup · also from Arabic
  • imam · also from Arabic
  • haram · also from Arabic
  • jihad · also from Arabic
  • roc · also from Arabic
  • sash · also from Arabic
  • halal · also from Arabic
  • hijab · also from Arabic
Cite this entry

“Sandal.” Etymologically, 5 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sandal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·