sock

The word 'sock' has a long history tracing back to ancient footwear. It entered English from Old English socc, a term for a light shoe or slipper, which was itself borrowed from Latin soccus. In Roman theatre, the soccus was the distinctive, low shoe worn by comic actors, contrasting with the elevated boot (cothurnus) of tragedians. This Latin term is thought to have origins in a pre-Latin Mediterranean language. Over centuries in English, the meaning narrowed from a general light shoe to specifically denote the knitted or woven foot-covering we know today, while the verb sense, meaning to strike forcefully, emerged much later in the 18th century as a slang term, possibly evoking the image of a sudden blow.

This is a simplex word. It is a loanword from Old English socc, which referred to a light slipper, borrowed from Latin soccus, a type of low-heeled shoe worn by comic actors. The Latin term is likely derived from a Proto-Indo-European substrate language.