sat | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

78 entries found.

1961, initialism (acronym) for Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Indian form of passive resistance, 1920, in writings of Gandhi, from Sanskrit satyagraha "insistence on truth," from satya "truth, truthfulness" (from sat- "existing, true, virtuous," from PIE root *es- "to be") + agraha "pertinacity," from gṛbhṇāti, gṛhṇāti "he seizes" (from PIE root *ghrebh- (1) "to seize, reach;" see grab (v.)). Related: Satyagrahi.

majlis (n.)

"assembly, council in a Middle Eastern land" (later, especially, with capital M-, the Persian national assembly), 1821, from Arabic majlis "assembly," literally "session," from jalasa "he sat down."

ink-well (n.)

also inkwell, 1854, from ink (n.) + well (n.). A schoolroom implement, so called because it sat down in the surface of a desk in contrast to an ink-stand.

panem et circenses

Latin, literally "bread and circuses," supposedly coined by Juvenal and describing the cynical formula of the Roman emperors for keeping the masses content with ample food and entertainment.

Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses [Juvenal, Sat. x.80].

vomitorium (n.)

1754, "passage or opening in an ancient amphitheater, leading to or from the seats," from Latin (Macrobius, Sat., VI.iv), from vomitare (see vomit (n.)) + -orium (see -ory). Meaning "place where ancient Romans (allegedly) deliberately vomited during feasts" is attested by 1869.

Areopagus

1640s, Greek, Areios pagos "the hill of Ares," west of the Acropolis in Athens, where the highest judicial court sat; second element from pagos "pinnacle, cliff, rocky hill," related to pegnunai "to fasten, coagulate," from PIE root *pag- "to fasten." Sense extended to "any important tribunal."

Bodhisattva (n.)

"one of a class of beings in Mahayana Buddhism who have attained supreme wisdom," 1828, from Sanskrit, literally "one whose essence is perfect knowledge," from bodhi "perfect knowledge" (see Buddha) + sattva "reality, being," from sat-, sant- "existing, true, virtuous," from PIE root *es- "to be."

fleshpot (n.)

from flesh (n.) + pot (n.1); literally "pot in which flesh is boiled," hence "luxuries regarded with envy," especially in fleshpots of Egypt, from Exodus xvi:3:

Whan we sat by ye Flesh pottes, and had bred ynough to eate. [Coverdale translation, 1535]

sederunt (n.)

"a sitting, a session" of a deliberative or judicial body, 1620s, Latin, literally "there sat" (the typical opening word in records written in Latin of such proceedings, noting the members present), third person plural past tense of sedere "to sit" (from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit").

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