sandal n.

type of shoe consisting of a sole fastened to the foot by thongs, the common footwear of ancient Greece and Rome, late 14c., from Old French sandale and directly from Medieval Latin sandalum, from Latin sandalium "a slipper, sandal," from Greek sandalion, diminutive of sandalon "a sandal," also "a flatfish," a word of unknown origin, probably foreign, perhaps from Persian. Related: Sandals.