sacco Italian · revision 37778

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, declaration of Paxia|origins=phn *šaqq}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsak.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sacco''' ''m'' (plural sacchi or (Old Italian) sacca f)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old plural [[roa-oit|sacca]] (feminine) survives in popular Tuscan.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Boccaccio has “Portavano il pan nelle mazze, e ’l vin nelle sacca” (they carried bread on their sticks and wine in their sacks).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|saccus|t=sack, bag]], [[bor|grc|σάκκος|tr=sákkos|t=coarse cloth of hair; sack]], from a Semitic word: [[phn|*šaqq|t=coarse cloth, sack]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini compares [[hbo|שַׂק|tr=śaq]] and [[akk|saqqu]].^(Nocentini 2010) The Greek word meant both a coarse cloth of hair and a sack made of it;^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020) DELI and Gabrielli derive the Semitic word from the sense “coarse cloth”.^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ The word is pan-Romance: [[fr|sac]], [[oc|sac]], [[ca|sac]], [[es|saco]], [[pt|saco]], [[sc|saccu]] and [[ro|sac]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) From Latin it also passed into the Germanic languages, as [[goh|sac]] and [[ang|sacc]], the source of [[en|sack]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the form ''sacho'' in a declaration of Paxia of the late 12th century, in the sense “bag of cloth, long and narrow and open at the top, for goods in pieces or powder”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word soon took on senses from the cloth and, from the shape: a rough habit of hermits and penitents (before 1243, Guido Faba), sackcloth (before 1342, Cavalca, after Medieval Latin ''saccus cilicinus'' in Salimbene), and a hollow organ of animals or plants (Dante, before 1321).^(DELI 1999) Dante's Inferno names the stomach “’l tristo sacco / che merda fa di quel che si trangugia” (the wretched sack that makes dung of what is swallowed).^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It was also a dry measure, in Medieval Latin from 1299 and in Italian in Nicola Zabaglia, before 1750.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The sense “sack, pillage” (14th century; before 1363, Matteo Villani) comes from phrases such as ''mettere a sacco'' and ''fare il sacco'';^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DIFIT)^(DEI|3305) DELI, Nocentini and DIFIT trace it to ''saccomanno'', a baggage carrier and then a plunderer, while DEI gives it a numbered entry of its own.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DIFIT)^(DEI|3305) French took ''sac'' “pillage” from Italian about 1400, and English ''sack'' came from French.^(DIFIT)

+

+ The figurative “great number” is in Mariano da Siena in the 15th century;^(DELI 1999) ''un sacco e una sporta'', a Tuscan phrase, spread through ''Pinocchio''.^(DELI 1999) In slang ''sacco'' was a thousand-lire note (Milanese ''sach'', 1938, Italian, 1947), and in Rome it now means a thousand euros.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) German ''Sakko'' “man's jacket” (late 19th century) is connected with the Italian word.^(DIFIT)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Sacho'' appears in the declaration of Paxia.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1243 – Guido Faba uses it for a penitent's habit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1299 – Medieval Latin ''saccus'' is recorded as a dry measure.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a hollow organ.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for “pillage”.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * About 1400 – French ''sac'' “pillage” is borrowed from Italian.^(DIFIT)

+ * 15th century – Mariano da Siena uses it for “a great number”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1947 – ''Sacco'' “thousand-lire note” appears in the newspaper ''Scandalo''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sack]], bag: a container of cloth, paper or plastic, long and open at the top: ''Hanno scaricato i sacchi di farina dal furgone.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A sackful, the contents of a sack: ''un sacco di mele''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''un sacco di'', a lot of, ''un sacco'', very much: ''Mi è piaciuto un sacco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|sackcloth]]; the rough habit of penitents and some friars.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A bag for travel or the mountains, a [[m|en|rucksack]], ''sacco a pelo'', a sleeping bag.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(anatomy, botany)'' A [[m|en|sac]], a hollow organ: ''sacco lacrimale''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Pillage, sacking of a town: ''mettere a sacco''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(slang)'' A thousand lire, ''(Rome)'' a thousand euros.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A prank in which the sheets of a bed are folded so that one cannot stretch one's legs: ''fare il sacco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sacca]]

+ * [[sacchetto]]

+ * [[saccata]]

+ * [[saccone]]

+ * [[saccoccia]]

+ * [[saccardo]]

+ * [[saccheggiare]]

+ * [[insaccare]]

+ * [[insaccato]]

+ * [[rinsaccare]]

+ * [[saccopelista]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sacciforme]]

+ * [[saccomanno]]

+ * [[sacculo]]

+ * [[la|saccus]]

+ * [[en|sack]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Idioms include ''cogliere con le mani nel sacco'' “to catch red-handed”, ''vuotare il sacco'' “to confess, tell all”, ''mettere nel sacco'' “to trick”, ''reggere il sacco'' “to be an accomplice” and ''farina del proprio sacco'' “one's own work”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}