English
sark
Sark comes from Middle English serk ‘a shirt used as an undergarment’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to arrange, tack, tie, unite’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to arrange, tack, tie, unite’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swerg-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sarkiz‘shirt, armour, hauberk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sarki‘sark, shirt’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150serċ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500serk‘a shirt used as an undergarment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1902sark
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to arrange, tack, tie, unite’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swerg-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sarkiz‘shirt, armour, hauberk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sarki‘sark, shirt’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150serċ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500serk‘a shirt used as an undergarment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1902sark
Earliest quotation: 1902, John Buchan: “The next thing the watchers saw was the laird…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to arrange, tack, tie, unite’
service, series, sort, serve, hero, stream, conservative, desert, insert, reservoir, assertion, sermon, conservatism, exert, heresy, assertive, sorcery, sorcerer, concierge, observant, servitude, heretic, conservator, servile, serf, strudel, sere, 34 more
Today it means
noun A garment worn against the torso, inclusive of shirts, tunics, undershirts, nightshirts, surplices.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / sark