"S" Word Origins

Sark

Origin

The island name origin is uncertain; the "shirt" sense is an old dialect word of separate origin.

sarkar

Persian

From Persian "sarkar," a compound of "sar" ("head") and "kar" ("agent" or "doer").

sarma

Origin

From Ottoman Turkish صرمه (sarma).

Saroyan

Origin

From Armenian "Saroyan."

sarpanch

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi सरपंच (sarpañc), from Hindi सर (sar, “head”) / Urdu سر (sar, “head; chief”) (from Persian سر (sar, “head; chief, leader”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“head; top”)) + Hindi पंच (pañc, “five (number of people in a panchayat council)”) / Urdu پنچ (pañc); from Sanskrit पञ्च (pañca, “five”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (“five”).

sarsaparilla

Spanish

From Spanish "zarzaparrilla," likely combining a Basque-derived word for "bramble" with "parrilla" ("little vine").

sarsen

Origin

From Saracen (“Muslim”), by extension, “non-Christian, pagan”.

sarsenet

Origin

From Anglo-Norman sarzinett, from Old French sarrasinet, diminutive of sarrazin (“Saracen”).

Sasaki

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 佐々木 (Sasaki).

sash

Arabic

From Arabic šāš, meaning "muslin cloth" — the word originally described a fine fabric wound around the head or waist, and only later came to mean the sliding frame of a window.

Sasha

Russian

From the Slavic diminutive form of Alexander and Alexandra, via Russian Са́ша (Sáša).

sashay

French

An American reshaping of the French dance term chassé ("to chase" or "glide"), altered in pronunciation and spelling as it passed into everyday English.

sashimi

Japanese

From Japanese sashimi, literally "pierced body" or "sliced flesh," describing the way the fish is carefully cut into slices.

Saskatchewan

Origin

From Cree kisiskâciwani-sîpiy, meaning "swift-flowing river," after the river that runs through the province.

sasquatch

Origin

Borrowed from Halkomelem (a Coast Salish language), sásq'ets, meaning "hairy man."

sass

Origin

A dialect variant of "sauce" — "sauce" has long been used to mean cheeky backtalk, and "sass" grew out of the same slang usage.

Sassenach

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic Sasannach, meaning Saxon or English, from the same root as Saxon.

sassy

Origin · 1799

A modification of "saucy," built from "sass" plus the adjective ending "-y"; first recorded in American English in 1799, though it only became common in the 1800s.

sat

Origin

Clippings.

Satan

Latin

Traced back through Latin and Greek to Hebrew satan, meaning "adversary" or "accuser" — originally a title or role rather than a personal name.

Satanist

Origin

Formed from "Satan" plus the suffix "-ist," on the pattern of words like "Buddhist" or "Marxist."

Satch

Origin

(Sense 3) See Satchmo.

satchel

Latin · 1300

Traced back to Latin saccus ("bag"), through a diminutive form that passed via Old French sachel into Middle English by the 1300s.

sate

Origin

Alteration (after words such as satiate and satisfy) of earlier sade (“to weary, satiate, satisfy”), from Middle English saden (“to weary, satisfy, become wearied or satiated”), from Old English sadian (“to satisfy, satiate, fill, be sated, become wearied”), from Proto-West Germanic *sadōn (“to satiate, become satisfied”), from Proto-Germanic *sadaz (“sated”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- (“to satiate, be satisfied”). Cognate with Middle Low German saden, Middle High German saten (“to saturate, satisfy, satiate”), Icelandic seðja (“to satisfy”). Doublet of sad.

sated

Middle English

From Middle English satet, satyt, saded. Equivalent to sate + -ed.

sateen

Origin

A 19th century variant of satin, perhaps influenced by velveteen.

satellite

Latin

From Latin satelles, meaning "attendant" or "bodyguard" — the modern space-age sense was a much later extension of the idea of something that follows and accompanies a larger body.

satiate

Origin

First attested in the 1440–1450s, in Middle English; borrowed from Latin satiātus, perfect passive participle of satiō (“to fill full, satiate, satisfy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from satis (“sufficient”).

satiety

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French satieté, from Latin satietas.

satin

French

From French satin, itself traced back to "Zaitun," the old Arabic name for the Chinese port city of Quanzhou, from where the fabric was originally exported to Europe.

satiny

Origin

From satin + -y.

satire

Latin

From Latin satira, originally referring to a mixed, varied composition; the spelling later shifted under the mistaken belief it was connected to the Greek "satyr," though the two words are historically unrelated.

satirical

Origin

Formed from "satire" plus the adjective ending "-ical."

satirise

Origin

From satire + -ise.

satisfaction

Latin

From Latin satisfactio, built from satis ("enough") and facere ("to do" or "to make") — literally "the making of enough."

satisfactory

Late Latin

From Late Latin satisfactorius, ultimately from satis ("enough") and facere ("to make").

satisfied

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

satisfy

Latin

From Latin satisfacere, combining satis ("enough") and facere ("to do" or "make") — literally "to do enough."

satisfying

Origin

Formed from "satisfy" plus the "-ing" ending.

Sato

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 佐藤 (Satō).

Satomi

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese さとみ (Satomi).

satori

Origin

Borrowed from Japanese 悟り (satori, “understanding; (Buddhism) enlightenment, satori”), from 悟る (satoru, “to perceive; to comprehend, understand; to come to enlightenment”), from Middle Chinese 悟 (nguH, “to become aware, apprehend, realize; to awaken”) (modern Mandarin 悟 (wù)), used to translate Pali bodhi (“supreme knowledge”) or its etymon Sanskrit बोधि (bodhi, “perfect knowledge or wisdom by which a person becomes a buddha or jina; enlightened or illuminated intellect of a Buddha or jina”). Etymology 1 sense 3 (“mutant gene of Drosophila that causes homosexual behaviour in males”) was coined by the Japanese scientist Daisuke Yamamoto in a 1991 paper, based on the Japanese term.

Satoshi

Origin

Named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, as a tribute unit within the currency's own protocol.

satsuma

Origin

Named after Satsuma, an old province in southern Japan, from where the fruit was first exported to the West.

satsumaimo

Origin

Borrowed from Japanese 薩(さつ)摩(ま)芋(いも) (Satsuma imo, literally “Satsuma potato”).

saturate

Origin

The adjective is first attested in the second part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English, the verb in 1538, the noun in 1921; inherited from Middle English saturat(e) (“satiated, satisfied”), borrowed from Latin saturātus, perfect passive participle of saturō (“to fill, satisfy, quench”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from satur (“full”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

saturation

Late Latin

From Late Latin saturatio, from saturare, "to fill" or "to satisfy," the same root behind "saturated."

Saturday

Latin

From Old English sæternesdæg, literally "Saturn's day" — a translation of the Latin diēs Saturnī, the day named for the Roman god Saturn.