Sack (wine) - Origin of The Term

Origin of The Term

The Collins English Dictionary, the Chambers Dictionary, and the Oxford English Dictionary all derive the word "sack" from the French sec, "dry". However, the OED cannot explain the change in the vowel, and it has been suggested by others that the term is actually from the Spanish word sacar, meaning "to draw out", which led to sacas. The word "sack" is not attested before 1530.

Julian Jeffs writes "The word sack (there are several spellings) probably originated at the end of the fifteenth century, and is almost certainly derived from the Spanish verb sacar ("to draw out"). In the minutes of the Jerez town council for 1435 exports of wine were referred to as sacas. The term is still used for the withdrawal of wine from a solera."

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