English Explanatory Dictionary

sake

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Cause, interest or account.
  2. Purpose or end; reason.
  3. The benefit or regard of someone or something.
  4. Contention, strife; guilt, sin, accusation or charge.
noun
  1. Alternative spelling of saké.

Pronunciation

sāk /ˈseɪk/ en-us-sake.ogg

Word forms

sake sakes

Etymology

From Middle English sake (“sake, cause”), from Old English sacu (“cause, lawsuit, legal action, complaint, issue, dispute”), from Proto-West Germanic *saku, from Proto-Germanic *sakō (“affair, thing, charge, accusation, matter”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to investigate”). Akin to West Frisian saak (“cause; business”), Low German Saak, Dutch zaak (“matter; cause; business”), German Sache (“thing; matter; cause; legal cause”), Danish sag, Swedish and Norwegian sak, Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌾𐍉 (sakjō, “dispute, argument”), Old English sōcn (“inquiry, prosecution”), Old English sēcan (“to seek”). More at soke, soken, seek.

Derived words

art for art's sake atsake for any sake for Christ's sake for cripes' sake for cripes sake for fuck's sake for fudge's sake for Goddess's sake for God's sake for goodness' sake for gosh sake for heaven's sake for land's sake for land's sake alive for mercy's sake for name's sake for old sake's sake for old times' sake for old time's sake for Pete's sake for pity's sake forsake for sake of for shame's sake for the land's sake for the land's sake alive for the sake of for the sake of it for very shame's sake fuck's sake keepsake land sake land sake alive land sakes land's sake land's sake alive looksake namesake name-sake sackless sake and soke unsake withersake withsake saketini
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