sack

Etymology 1

From Middle English sak (“bag, sackcloth”), from Old English sacc (“sack, bag”) and sæcc (“sackcloth, sacking”); both from Proto-West Germanic *sakku, from late Proto-Germanic *sakkuz (“sack”), borrowed from Latin saccus (“large bag”), from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “bag of coarse cloth”), from Semitic, possibly Phoenician or Hebrew. Cognate with Dutch zak, German Sack, Swedish säck, Danish sæk, Hebrew שַׂק (śaq, “sack, sackcloth”), Aramaic סַקָּא, Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ, Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ), Akkadian 𒆭𒊓 (saqqu), Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. Doublet of sac, saccus, saco, and sakkos. Černý and Forbes suggest the word was originally Egyptian, a nominal derivative of sꜣq (“to gather or put together”) that also yielded Coptic ⲥⲟⲕ (sok, “sackcloth”) and was borrowed into Greek perhaps by way of a Semitic intermediary. However, Vycichl and Hoch reject this idea, noting that such an originally Egyptian word would be expected to yield Hebrew *סַק rather than שַׂק. Instead, they posit that the Coptic and Greek words are both borrowed from Semitic, with the Coptic word perhaps developing via Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. Sense evolution * “Pillage” senses from the use of sacks in carrying off plunder. From Middle French sac, shortened from the phrase mettre à sac (“put it in a bag”), a military command to pillage; also parallel meaning with Italian sacco (“plunder”), from Medieval Latin saccō (“pillage”). From Vulgar Latin saccare (“to plunder”), from saccus (“sack”). See also ransack. American football “tackle” sense from this “plunder, conquer” root. * “Removal from employment” senses attested since 1825; the original formula was “to give (someone) the sack”, likely from the notion of a worker going off with his tools in a sack, or being given such a sack for his personal belongings as part of an expedient severance. Idiom exists earlier in French (on luy a donné son sac, 17c.) and Middle Dutch (iemand den zak geven). English verb in this sense recorded from 1841. Current verb, to sack (“to fire”) carries influence from the forceful nature of “plunder, tackle” verb senses. * Slang meaning “bunk, bed” is attested since 1825, originally nautical, likely in reference to sleeping bags. The verb meaning “go to bed” is recorded from 1946. * Slang meaning "scrotum" is an ellipsis of ballsack.

noun

1. A bag; especially a large bag of strong, coarse material for storage and handling of various commodities, such as potatoes, coal, coffee; or, a bag with handles used at a supermarket, a grocery sack; or, a small bag for small items, a satchel.
2. The amount a sack holds; also, an archaic or historical measure of varying capacity, depending on commodity type and according to local usage; an old English measure of weight, usually of wool, equal to 13 stone (182 pounds), or in other sources, 26 stone (364 pounds).
   The American sack of salt is 215 pounds; the sack of wheat, two bushels. — McElrath.
   Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6 1/2 tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. … It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds. 1843, The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, volume 27, page 202
   Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of 14 lbs., is used, the tod of 28 lbs., and the sack of thirteen stone. 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 209
3. (uncountable) The plunder and pillaging of a captured town or city.
   the sack of Rome
4. (uncountable) Loot or booty obtained by pillage.
5. (American football) A successful tackle of the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. See verb sense⁴ below.
6. (baseball) One of the square bases anchored at first base, second base, or third base.
   He twisted his ankle sliding into the sack at second.
7. (informal) Dismissal from employment, or discharge from a position, usually as give (someone) the sack or get the sack. See verb sense⁵ below.
   The boss is gonna give her the sack today.
   He got the sack for being late all the time.
8. (colloquial, US) Bed (either literally or figuratively); usually as hit the sack or in the sack. See also sack out.
9. (dated) (also sacque) A kind of loose-fitting gown or dress with sleeves which hangs from the shoulders, such as a gown with a Watteau back or sack-back, fashionable in the late 17th to 18th century; or, formerly, a loose-fitting hip-length jacket, cloak or cape.
   Her Dress, too, was of the same cast, a thin muslin short sacque and Coat lined throughout with Pink, – a modesty bit – and something of a very short cloak half concealed about half of her old wrinkled Neck […]. 1780, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 151
   This lady's interesting figure, on her wedding-day, was attired in a sacque and petticoat of the most expensive brocaded white silk, resembling net-work, enriched with small flowers […]. 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 13
10. (dated) A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam.
11. (vulgar, slang) The scrotum.
    He got passed the ball, but it hit him in the sack.

verb

1. To put in a sack or sacks.
   Help me sack the groceries.
   A girl porter sacking some of the many thousands of used railway tickets which are turned over by the London Passenger Transport Board to assist the waste paper salvage campaign 1942 May-June, “Notes and News”, in Railway Magazine, page 187, photo caption
2. To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders.
3. To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from.
   The barbarians sacked Rome in 410 CE.
   It [a lyre] was part of the spoils which he had taken when he sacked the city of Eetion […] 1898, Homer, translated by Samuel Butler, The Iliad, Book IX
4. (American football) To tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, especially before he is able to throw a pass.
   1995, John Crumpacker and Gwen Knapp, "Sack-happy defensive line stuns Dolphins", SFGate.com, November 21, On third down, the rejuvenated Rickey Jackson stormed in over All-Pro left tackle Richmond Webb to sack Marino yet again for a 2-yard loss.
5. (informal, transitive) To discharge from a job or position; to fire.
   He was sacked last September.
   […] Boris Berezovsky on Friday dismissed President Boris Yeltsin's move to sack him from his post as executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States, […] March 5 1999, “Russian media mogul dismisses Yeltsin's bid to sack him”, in CNN.com
   Waste my time working for cowards and creeps / Oh I wish that they'd sack me and leave me to sleep 2008, “I Wish That They'd Sack Me”, in The Boy Bands Have Won, performed by Chumbawamba
   As an aside, Luddendenfoot once had a famous (or perhaps infamous) clerk - drunkard Branwell Brontë, brother to the famous Brontë sisters and writers. He was sacked from his post in March 1842 after an audit revealed a discrepancy in the books. Today, a blue plaque on the Jubilee Refreshment rooms at Sowerby Bridge station commemorates him. July 28 2021, Paul Bigland, “Calder line captures picturesque Pennines”, in RAIL, number 936, page 66
   A group of St Petersburg local politicians who called for President Vladimir Putin to be sacked over the war in Ukraine faces the likely dissolution of their district council following a judge's ruling on Tuesday, one of the deputies said. September 13, 2022, Mark Trevelyan, Filipp Lebedev, “Russian council faces dissolution after call for Putin's removal”, in Bill Berkrot, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2022-09-13, Europe

Etymology 2

From earlier (wyne) seck from Middle French (vin (“wine”)) sec (“dry”), from Latin siccus (“dry”).

noun

1. (dated) A variety of light-colored dry wine from Spain or the Canary Islands; also, any strong white wine from southern Europe; sherry.
   The vesper bell had rung its parting note; the domini were mostly caged in comfortable quarters, discussing the merits of old port; and the merry student had closed his oak, to consecrate the night to friendship, sack, and claret. The New Sporting Magazine (volume 15, page 23)

Etymology 3

noun

1. Dated form of sac (“pouch in a plant or animal”).
   Sometimes fishes are born that have rudimentary yolk sacks. Such young are born prematurely. 1938, The Microscope, volumes 1-2, page 56

Etymology 4

verb

1. Alternative spelling of sac (“sacrifice”)

noun

1. Alternative spelling of sac (“sacrifice”)