sack English · revision 15047

+ English has three words spelled sack: a bag, an old borrowing of Latin; a dry wine, from French sec; and plunder, from French sac.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sæk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|bag}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1000|origins=grc σάκκος}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bag is [[inh|enm|sak]], [[inh|ang|sacc|t=large cloth bag]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|la|saccus|t=bag, sackcloth]], taken early into Germanic as [[gem-pro|*sakkiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) itself from [[grc|σάκκος|tr=sákkos|t=bag of goat hair, sackcloth]], which is of Semitic origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) It was later reinforced by [[fro|sac]] and [[non|sekkr]].^(Barnhart 1988) The ODWO asks what word these peoples used for so ordinary an object before they borrowed this one.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A large bag of coarse cloth: about 1000.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline thinks the word's wide spread may be due to the story of Joseph in the Bible, where it appears in many translations.^(Etymonline) A sack as a bed is slang from 1829, and ''to hit the sack'' is later.^(OED 1989) The sense of dismissal from work is from 1825, at first in the phrase ''to give someone the sack'', perhaps from a worker leaving with his tools in a bag,^(Etymonline) and French and Dutch had similar phrases.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The verb, to dismiss, is attested by 1841.^(Etymonline) In American football, to tackle the quarterback behind the line is a later use.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a large bag.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1825 – the sack, dismissal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1829 – a bed (slang).^(OED 1989)

+ * by 1841 – to sack, dismiss.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large bag of strong, coarse material for holding goods in bulk; a similar bag of paper or plastic.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The amount a sack holds.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''the sack'' ''(informal)'': dismissal from a job.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(slang)'' A bed: ''to hit the sack''.^(OED 1989)

+ # A short, loose-fitting dress or jacket.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put into a sack.^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' To dismiss from a job.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(American football)'' To tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sackcloth]]

+ * [[sackful]]

+ * [[rucksack]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|dry wine}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1531–32|origins=la siccus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The wine is [[bor|fr|vin sec|t=dry wine]] in altered form,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|siccus|t=dry]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1531–32.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Sack was the name for a class of light, dry white wines from Spain and the Canary Islands, imported into England in the 16th and 17th centuries.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1531–32 – sack, dry wine.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various light, dry, strong wines from Spain and the Canary Islands, imported into England in the 16th and 17th centuries.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|3|plunder}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1547|origins=la saccus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The plunder is [[bor|frm|sac]], as in [[m|frm|mettre à sac|t=to put in a bag]], from or parallel to [[it|sacco]], as in a sacco, to the plunder,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) ultimately from [[la|saccus|t=bag]], perhaps from the filling of sacks with loot.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, to plunder a captured city: before 1547; the noun: 1549.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline gives the noun from the 1540s, the plundering of a town after it has been stormed and taken.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1547 – to sack a city.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1549 – a sack, plundering.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The looting or plundering of a captured city or town.^(AHD)

+ # Plunder; loot.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To plunder a captured place.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sac]]

+ * [[sachet]]

+ * [[satchel]]

+ * [[haversack]]

+ * [[knapsack]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Irish slang to sack was to defeat an opponent, especially in a show of learning.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}