ransack

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*seh₂g-“to follow; to seek out, trace”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*sōkijaną“to look for, seek”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁reh₁-“to rest; quiet”
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*razną“dwelling, house”
5. Old Norse · derived fromrannsaka“to search a house (especially for stolen goods)”
6. Middle English · inherited fromransaken“to examine, investigate; to rob, plunder, steal; to search, seek; to treat roughly, mistreat”
7. English todayransack

The verb is derived from Middle English ransaken (“to examine, investigate; to rob, plunder, steal; to search, seek; to treat roughly, mistreat”), from Old Norse rannsaka (“to search a house (especially for stolen goods)”), from rann (“house”) (from Proto-Germanic *razną (“dwelling, house”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to rest; quiet”)) + saka, an ablaut variant of sœkja, sǿkja (“to look for, search, seek”) (from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to look for, seek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to follow; to seek out, trace”)). Verb senses 1.2 (“to search (someone, or a place) thoroughly in order to steal something”), 1.3 (“to search for and steal (something) as plunder”), and 2.2 (“to search for and steal things”) are probably influenced by sack (“to pillage, to plunder”). The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Middle Low German rānsāken, rantsāken * Old Danish randsage, ransage (modern Danish ransage) * Old Swedish ransaka (modern Swedish rannsaka)

Words from the same roots