knapsack

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 Spanish: morral (es) m Swedish: ryggsäck (sv) c Tibetan: ཕད་གོག (phad gog) 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

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.