sake [OE] Old English sacu ‘contention, crime’ is from a Germanic source, from a base meaning ‘affair, legal action, thing’. The phrase for the sake of was not in Old English and may be from Old Norse. It was originally a legal expression. Sake remains hidden in the language in the words forsake [OE], which originally meant ‘renounce, refuse’; keepsake [L18th] something kept for the sake of the giver; and namesake [M17th] which may be a shortening of ‘for one’s name’s sake’. See also japanese words, seize.