sack: English has three separate words sack, one of them now a historical relic and the other two ultimately related. Sack ‘large bag’ [OE] was borrowed from Latin saccus (source also of English sac, sachet, and satchel). This in turn came from Greek sákkos ‘rough cloth used for packing’, which was of Semitic origin (Hebrew has saq meaning both ‘sack’ and ‘sackcloth’).
The colloquial sense ‘dismissal from work’ (as in get the sack) arose in the early 19th century, perhaps from the notion of a dismissed worker going away with his tools or clothing in his bag. Sack ‘plunder’ [16] came via French sac from sacco ‘bag’, the Italian descendant of Latin saccus. This was used in expressions like mettere a sacco, literally ‘put in a bag’, which denoted figuratively ‘plunder, pillage’ (no doubt inspired by the notion of ‘putting one’s loot in a bag’). Sack ‘sherry-like wine’ [16] (Sir John Falstaff’s favourite tipple) was an alteration of seck.
This was short for wine sec, a partial translation of French vin sec ‘dry wine’ (French sec came from Latin siccus ‘dry’, source of English desiccate [16]). => sac, sachet, satchel; desiccate, sec
sack (n.1)
"large bag," Old English sacc (West Saxon), sec (Mercian), sæc (Old Kentish) "large cloth bag," also "sackcloth," from Proto-Germanic *sakkiz (cognates: Middle Dutch sak, Old High German sac, Old Norse sekkr, but Gothic sakkus probably is directly from Greek), an early borrowing from Latin saccus (also source of Old French sac, Spanish saco, Italian sacco), from Greek sakkos, from Semitic (compare Hebrew saq "sack").
The wide spread of the word is probably due to the Biblical story of Joseph, in which a sack of corn figures (Gen. xliv). Baseball slang sense of "a base" is attested from 1913. Slang meaning "bunk, bed" is from 1825, originally nautical. The verb meaning "go to bed" is recorded from 1946. Sack race attested from 1805.
sack (n.2)
"a dismissal from work," 1825, from sack (n.1), perhaps from the notion of the worker going off with his tools in a bag; the original formula was to give (someone) the sack. It is attested earlier in French (on luy a donné son sac, 17c.) and Dutch (iemand de zak geven).
sack (n.4)
"sherry," 1530s, alteration of French vin sec "dry wine," from Latin siccus "dry" (see siccative).
sack (v.1)
"to plunder," 1540s, from Middle French sac, in the phrase mettre à sac "put it in a bag," a military leader's command to his troops to plunder a city (parallel to Italian sacco, with the same range of meaning), from Vulgar Latin *saccare "to plunder," originally "to put plundered things into a sack," from Latin saccus "bag" (see sack (n.1)). The notion is probably of putting booty in a bag.
sack (n.3)
"plunder; act of plundering, the plundering of a city or town after storming and capture," 1540s, from French sac "pillage, plunder," from Italian sacco (see sack (v.1)).
sack (v.2)
"put in a bag," late 14c., from sack (n.1). Related: Sacked; sacking.
sack (v.4)
type of U.S. football play, 1969, from sack (v.1) in the sense of "to plunder" or sack (v.2) on the notion of "put in a bag." As a noun from 1972.
sack (v.3)
"dismiss from work," 1841, from sack (n.2). Related: Sacked; sacking.
双语例句
1. Other industries have had to sack managers to reduce administrative costs.
其他行业只得精简管理人员以减少行政开支。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Francis bundled up her clothes again into their small sack.
弗朗西丝再次把她的衣服塞进了他们的小袋子里。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Thieves ransacked the office, taking a sack of loose change.
窃贼洗劫了办公室,拿走了一口袋散币.
来自柯林斯例句
4. People who make mistakes can be given the sack the same day.
一犯错误可能当天就会被开除。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The government agreed not to sack any of the striking workers.
