knapsack

English

Etymology

From Low German knapzak or Dutch knapzak (older form cnapsack), from Middle Dutch cnappen (“to bite with teeth”), ultimately from knappen (“to eat, crack”), of imitative origin, + sack. German Knappsack is from Dutch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnæpsæk/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

knapsack (plural knapsacks)

1. (chiefly US) A case of canvas or leather, for carrying items on the back.
   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 23:

     The two elder reluctantly left him and walked on, taking their brother's knapsack to relieve him in following, and the youngest entered the field.

2. (cryptography) A set of values from which a subset is chosen.

Synonyms

• backpack
• rucksack

Translations

Translations

Bulgarian: раница f (ranica) Finnish: reppu (fi) French: sac à dos (fr) Georgian: ზურგჩანთა (zurgčanta) German: Rucksack (de), Tornister (de) m Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌻𐌲𐍃 m (matibalgs) Greek: Ancient: γυλιός m (guliós) Italian: zaino (it) m, zainetto m Latin: mantica f, pēra f Russian: рюкза́к (ru) m (rjukzák) Spanish: morral (es) m Swedish: ryggsäck (sv) c Tibetan: ཕད་གོག (phad gog) Turkish: sırt çantası (tr) Yiddish: רוקזאַק m (rukzak)

Verb

knapsack (third-person singular simple present knapsacks, present participle knapsacking, simple past and past participle knapsacked)

1. To go hiking while burdened with a knapsack, usually overnight or for longer.

   My sleeping bag fell off my backpack into the water, while we were knapsacking up the mountain.

Synonyms

• backpack

See also

• backpacking
• camping
• hiking

Further reading

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Knapsack”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.