Dictionary

haversack en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈhævəsæk/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From French havresac, from Low German Haaversack and/or German Habersack, Hafersack (literally “oat-sack”), from Hafer + Sack. Compare also Dutch haverzak.

Meanings

1. A small, strong bag carried on the back or the shoulder, usually with only one strap, and originally made of canvas.
   • When I went, I left from the station / With a haversack and some trepidation 1990, Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant, “Being Boring”, performed by Pet Shop Boys:
   • And most significant, these hordes of nonmotorized tourists, hungry for a taste of the difficult, the original, the real, do not consist solely of people young and athletic but also of old folks, fat folks, pale-faced office clerks who don’t know a rucksack from a haversack, and even children. 1968, Edward Abbey, “Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks”, in Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, McGraw-Hill; republished New York: Touchstone, 1968, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 49:
2. (archaic) An oat-sack, or nosebag for a horse.

Forms

Relateds

backpack · rucksack · knapsack

Translations (16)

de Hafersack (oat bag) · fi kaurasäkki (oat bag) · ota هكبه (shoulder bag) · bg мешка (shoulder bag) · ga mála lóin (shoulder bag) · de Brotbeutel (shoulder bag) · pdt Rigjesak (shoulder bag) · nl haverzak (oat bag) · hu tarisznya (shoulder bag) · fr havresac (shoulder bag) · mt barżakka (shoulder bag) · bg сухарна торба (shoulder bag) · el ταγάρι (shoulder bag) · grc γυλιός (shoulder bag) · pl chlebak (shoulder bag) · fi olkareppu (shoulder bag)