Dictionary

sark en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /sɑːk/

Etymology

From Middle English serk, sark, serke, from Old English serċ, sierċ m; and serċe, sierċe f (“sark, shirt, shift, smock, tunic, corselet, coat of mail”), from Proto-West Germanic *sarki, from Proto-Germanic *sarkiz (“shirt, armour, hauberk”), from Proto-Indo-European *swerg-, *swerk- (“clothes worn outside”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to arrange, tack, tie, unite”). Cognate with Scots sark, serk (“shirt, shift”), North Frisian serk (“shirt”), Danish særk (“gown, shirt”), Swedish särk (“shirt, chemise”), Icelandic serkur (“nightshirt”).

Meanings

1. (archaic) A garment worn against the torso, inclusive of shirts, tunics, undershirts, nightshirts, surplices.
   • Near is the kirtle, but nearer the sark.
2. (Northern-England, Scotland) Synonym of shirt, whether worn against the skin or not.
   • Then lorek's rear claws dug into the links of Iofur's chain-mail sark and ripped downward. The whole front came away, and Iofur lurched sideways to look at the damage, leaving lorek to scramble upright again. 2007, Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials, Bluefire, →ISBN, page 259:
   • The next thing the watchers saw was the laird struggling up the far bank and casting his coat from him, so that he rode in his sark. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

Forms

Deriveds

sarkless · baresark · sarkful

Relateds

battle-sark · berserk · sarkit

Synonyms

shirt · whether worn against the skin or not

sark en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /sɑːk/

Meanings

1. (transitive) To cover with sarking, or thin boards.

Forms