sake en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈseɪ̯k/
- [ˈseɪ̯k]
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, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish sak, Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌾𐍉 (sakjō, “dispute, argument”), Old English sōcn (“inquiry, prosecution”), Old English sēcan (“to seek”). More at soke, soken, seek.
Meanings
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Cause, interest or account.
I hope you're right, for all our sakes!
For the sake of argument
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Purpose or end; reason.
It's not worth risking your life for the sake of getting there a few minutes earlier.
for old times' sake
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The benefit or regard of someone or something.
Ne ãd except thoſe dayes ſhulde be ſhoꝛtened / ſhulde no fleſſe be faved: Butt foꝛ the choſens ſake thoſe dayes ſhalbe ſhoꝛtened.
1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew xxiiij:[22], folio xxxiiij, verso:When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 242a-b. But it will be for your sake that we'll undertake to refute this thesis, […]
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(qualifier:obsolete except in phrases) Contention, strife; guilt, sin, accusation or charge.
And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:17:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| sakes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
for the land's sake alive · land sake · for the sake of · sake and soke · land's sake alive · fuck's sake · for pity's sake · keepsake · for any sake · unsake · for the land's sake · namesake · for gosh sake · for land's sake alive · for fudge's sake · forsake · land sakes · for goodness' sake · for heaven's sake · for name's sake · for Pete's sake · for sake of · land's sake · for Christ's sake · atsake · land sake alive · for old times' sake · for cripes sake · for God's sake · withersake · for fuck's sake · for Goddess's sake · art for art's sake · for shame's sake · name-sake · for the sake of it · sackless · looksake · withsake · for land's sake · for old time's sake · for very shame's sake · for cripes' sake · for old sake's sake · for mercy's sake
Translations (62)
uk користь (benefit) · bg полза (benefit) · nl wille (purpose or end; reason) · pt motivo (purpose or end; reason) · it causa (cause, interest or account) · km ប្រយោជន៍ (benefit) · sv skull (benefit) · tr menfaat (benefit) · bg благо (benefit) · pt benefício (benefit) · fi syy (cause, interest or account) · sv skull (cause, interest or account) · pt causa (cause, interest or account) · la gratias (cause, interest or account) · de Sinn (cause, interest or account) · bg име (purpose or end; reason) · la gratia (contention, strife; guilt) · km ប្រយោជន៍ (purpose or end; reason) · da skyld (benefit) · es motivo (purpose or end; reason) · ru цель (purpose or end; reason) · nl -halve (purpose or end; reason) · bg мотив (cause, interest or account) · es gracia (cause, interest or account) · la grātia (benefit) · la grātia (cause, interest or account) · es bienestar (benefit) · de Ziel (cause, interest or account) · ru причи́на (cause, interest or account) · pt bem (benefit) · ar قَصْد (cause, interest or account) · da skyld (cause, interest or account) · pt causa (cause, interest or account) · de Vorteil (benefit) · ja -のために (benefit) · es gracia (purpose or end; reason) · ru моти́в (purpose or end; reason) · km ប្រយោជន៍ (cause, interest or account) · ru бла́го (benefit) · ar غَرَض (cause, interest or account) · da skyld (purpose or end; reason) · es razón (purpose or end; reason) · fi tähden (cause, interest or account) · es gracia (contention, strife; guilt) · fi etu (benefit) · wa såme (purpose or end; reason) · bg цел (cause, interest or account) · ar مَصْلَحَة (cause, interest or account) · tr gaye (cause, interest or account) · es bien (benefit) · pt razão (purpose or end; reason) · ar غاية (cause, interest or account) · pt interesse (cause, interest or account) · es beneficio (benefit) · bg причина (purpose or end; reason) · es causa (cause, interest or account) · ru причи́на (purpose or end; reason) · tr kast (cause, interest or account) · la grātia (purpose or end; reason) · wa idêye (purpose or end; reason) · es gracia (benefit) · pl wzgląd (cause, interest or account)