σάκκος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σᾰ́κος (sákos) — Attic

Etymology

Most likely borrowed from Semitic, possibly from Phoenician. Compare Hebrew שַׂק, Imperial Aramaic 𐡔𐡒 (šq), Talmudic Aramaic סַקָּא, Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ, Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ), Akkadian 𒆭𒊓 (/⁠šaqqu⁠/), Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. The word is a widely-borrowed Mediterranean Kulturwort.

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.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sák.kos/ → /ˈsa.kos/ → /ˈsa.kos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sák.kos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈsak.kos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.kos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.kos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.kos/

Noun

σᾰ́κκος • (sákkos) m (genitive σᾰ́κκου); second declension

1. coarse cloth of hair, especially of goat's hair
2. anything made of coarse cloth:
   1. sack, bag

      Synonym: σᾰ́κτᾱς (sáktās)

   2. sieve, strainer
   3. coarse garment, sackcloth, worn as mourning by the Jews
   4. (Christianity) sackcloth vestment, penitential garb
3. coarse beard

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ σᾰ́κκος; τοῦ σᾰ́κκου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ σᾰ́κκος ho sákkos	τὼ σᾰ́κκω tṑ sákkō	οἱ σᾰ́κκοι hoi sákkoi
Genitive	τοῦ σᾰ́κκου toû sákkou	τοῖν σᾰ́κκοιν toîn sákkoin	τῶν σᾰ́κκων tôn sákkōn
Dative	τῷ σᾰ́κκῳ tôi sákkōi	τοῖν σᾰ́κκοιν toîn sákkoin	τοῖς σᾰ́κκοις toîs sákkois
Accusative	τὸν σᾰ́κκον tòn sákkon	τὼ σᾰ́κκω tṑ sákkō	τοὺς σᾰ́κκους toùs sákkous
Vocative	σᾰ́κκε sákke	σᾰ́κκω sákkō	σᾰ́κκοι sákkoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σᾰκκᾶς (sakkâs)
• σᾰκκέω (sakkéō)
• σᾰκκηγός (sakkēgós)
• σᾰκκογενειοτρόφος (sakkogeneiotróphos)
• σᾰκκοπήρᾰ (sakkopḗra)
• σᾰκκοπλόκος (sakkoplókos)
• σᾰκκορᾰ́φῐον (sakkoráphion)
• σᾰκκούδῐον (sakkoúdion)
• σᾰκκοφόρος (sakkophóros)
• σᾰκκοῠ̈φᾰ́ντης (sakkoüphántēs)
• σᾰκκώνῠμος (sakkṓnumos)
• σᾰκκῐ́δῐον (sakkídion)
• σᾰκκῐ́ζω (sakkízō)
• σᾰ́κκῐνος (sákkinos)
• σᾰκκῐ́ον (sakkíon)
• σᾰκκῐ́ᾱς (sakkíās)

 

Related terms

• δῐσᾰ́κκῐον (disákkion)
• σᾰκκηγέω (sakkēgéō)
• σᾰκκηγῐ́ᾱ (sakkēgíā)
• σᾰκκοφορέω (sakkophoréō)
• σᾰκκοφορῐκός (sakkophorikós)
• σᾰκκῐνόσῡκοι (sakkinósūkoi)

 

Descendants

Descendants of σᾰ́κκος in other languages

• Greek: σάκος (sákos)
• → Latin: saccus (see there for further descendants)
• → Mingrelian: საკი (saḳi), სააკი (saaḳi)

References

• “σάκκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Further reading

• Robert Jacobus Forbes (1955) Studies in Ancient Technology, volume 4, page 66
• Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 149
• Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 186
• Hoch, James E. (1994) Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 269
• G4526 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bag idem, page 59.
  • pocket idem, page 622.
  • pouch idem, page 630.
  • sack idem, page 728.