sabotage

/ˈsæb.ə.tɑːʒ/ French Origin General

Original Word

sabotage

French

Entered English

Early 20th century

First recorded usage in English

The Story Behind "sabotage"

From French 'sabotage', from 'saboter' (to walk noisily in wooden clogs), from 'sabot' (wooden shoe). French workers threw their sabots into machinery to halt production. Now means deliberate destruction.

Example Usage

"Someone tried to sabotage the project by deleting important files."

All French Loanwords Look Up in Dictionary

More French Loanwords

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