English
Sabbath
Sabbath comes from Ancient Greek σάββατον.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσάββατονsábbaton
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsabbatum
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sabat‘the Sabbath’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1828Sabbath
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσάββατονsábbaton
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsabbatum
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sabat‘the Sabbath’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1828Sabbath
Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “They travel through the air in various strange conveyances,…”
The story
From Middle English sabat, sabbat, sabath, from Old English sabat and Old French sabbat, both from Latin sabbatum, from Ancient Greek σάββατον (sábbaton, “Sabbath”), from Hebrew שַׁבָּת (shabát, “Sabbath”), with the spelling ending in -th, probably influenced by the traditional transliteration of the Hebrew as shabbāth, being attested since the 14th century and widespread since the 16th.
Every English word from Ancient Greek σάββατον
Today it means
noun Friday, observed in Islam as a day of rest and worship.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek σάββατον / Sabbath