Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·French ·1910s
Sabotage
from sabotage
- Meaning
- From *sabot* (wooden shoe) — popularly explained as "thrown into machinery" but more likely means "working clumsily like a peasant in clogs."
- Source word
- sabotage
- Route into English
- French labour-movement vocabulary around 1900; crossed into English during WWI military intelligence reports.
- Arrived
- 1910s
From French
Beyond the Norman conquest's Old French foundation, English kept borrowing from French for art, cuisine, fashion, and diplomacy throughout the modern period.
English borrows.
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