Fort Sumter

military installation in South Carolina, U.S., begun in 1827, named for U.S. Revolutionary War officer and Congressman Thomas Sumter (1734-1832), "The Carolina Gamecock." The family name is attested from 1206, from Old French sommetier "driver of a pack horse" (see sumpter). The U.S. Civil War is held to have begun with the firing of rebel batteries on the government-held fort on April 12, 1861.

Entries linking to Fort Sumter

sumpter (n.)

c. 1300, sompter, "driver of a pack horse," from Old French sommetier "pack-horse driver," from Vulgar Latin *sagmatarius "a pack horse driver," from Late Latin sagmat- "a pack, burden," stem of sagma "packsaddle," a borrowing of Greek sagma "coat, cloak; packsaddle."

The Greek word is related to saktas "bag, pouch," saktos "crammed," from sattein "to stuff compress, pack, load, equip," from a PIE *tuenk- (Beekes gives as cognates Old High German dwingan "compress, coerce," Lithuanian tvenki "to dam up").

Used from mid-15c. of horses and mules for carrying loads.

Trends of Fort Sumter

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syncope

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updated on October 10, 2017

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