# sake

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈseɪk/ · frequency rank #3,652

## Definitions
1. Cause, interest or account.
2. Purpose or end; reason.
3. The benefit or regard of someone or something.
4. Contention, strife; guilt, sin, accusation or charge.

## Etymology
From Middle English sake (“sake, cause”), from Old English sacu (“cause, lawsuit, legal action, complaint, issue, dispute”), from Proto-West Germanic *saku, from Proto-Germanic *sakō (“affair, thing, charge, accusation, matter”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to investigate”).
Akin to West Frisian saak (“cause; business”), Low German Saak, Dutch zaak (“matter; cause; business”), German Sache (“thing; matter; cause; legal cause”), Danish sag, Swedish and Norwegian sak, Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌾𐍉 (sakjō, “dispute, argument”), Old English sōcn (“inquiry, prosecution”), Old English sēcan (“to seek”). More at soke, soken, seek.

## Easily confused with
- **se** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-se)
- **SK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sk)
- **she** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-she)
- **see** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-see)
- **say** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-say)
- **saw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-saw)
- **san** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-san)
- **sky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sky)
- **Sam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sam)
- **sat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sat)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sue)
- **ski** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-ski)
- **sap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sap)
- **sal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sal)
- **SAS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sas)
- **Sao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sao)
- **Sar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sar)
- **sax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sax)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-sie)
- **ska** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sake-vs-ska)

## Common misspellings (5)
`aske`, `saek`, `sakke`, `skae`, `ssake`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sake