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sa·bot

(să-bō, săbō)

1. A shoe carved from a piece of wood, traditionally worn in some parts of Europe.

2. (săbət) A sandal or shoe, especially one with a wooden sole, that has an upper of leather or other similar material.

3. A sleeve that couches a projectile of a smaller caliber within the muzzle of a larger caliber weapon in order to keep the projectile centered. The sabot normally separates and falls away from the projectile a short distance from the muzzle.

[French, from Old French chavate, savate, old slipper; akin to Spanish zapato, shoe, Arabic sabbāṭ, a kind of footwear, and Russian čobot, short boots, from Turkish sources (compare Tatar čabata, overshoes of bast fiber) ultimately either of Iranian origin (akin to Khwarezmian (Middle Iranian language of the Aral Sea region) čābātān, thick boots) or akin to Turkish çapıt, çaput, tatter, patchwork, crudely sewn thing (akin to Old Turkic čapmaq, to do noisily or hurriedly, slap on).]

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sabot

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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