Saddle Grew From the Same Root as Sit
A saddle is the seat strapped to a horse, bicycle or motorcycle. Its root is the same one that gives us sit, and the verb means to burden someone.
A saddle is the seat fixed to a horse's back, or to a bicycle. Trace it far enough back and it meets the ordinary verb *sit*: a saddle is literally a sitting-thing, built from the same ancient root that produced *sit*, *seat* and *settle*. The device changed history — stirrups and a rigid tree let a rider fight rather than merely travel.
- A rider's seat. *He tightened the saddle.*
- A bicycle seat. *The saddle was too low.*
- A ridge between two peaks. *We camped on the saddle.*
- A cut of meat. *Saddle of lamb.*
- Verb, to burden. *They saddled her with the debt.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | saddle | A worn saddle. |
| Plural | saddles | Racing saddles. |
| Verb | saddle | Saddle the horse. |
| Past | saddled | Saddled with debt. |
| Agent | saddler | The village saddler. |
- She was back in the saddle within a week.Idiom: returned to work.
- The path climbs to a saddle between the ridges.Geography.
- The merger saddled the firm with enormous debt.Figurative, negative.
Saddle idioms
- Back in the saddle — returned to a familiar job after a break
- In the saddle — in charge
- Saddled with — stuck with an unwanted burden
- Saddle up — get ready to leave
- Hit the saddle — set off riding
Old English *sadol*, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz*, from a root meaning to sit. The negative verb sense — to load someone with a burden — appeared in the 1500s and now outnumbers the literal one in ordinary speech.
Are saddle and sit related?
Yes. Both go back to the same Indo-European root for sitting, which also gave English seat, settle and sedentary.
Why is a mountain pass called a saddle?
Because the dip between two summits has the same shape as a saddle: high at each end, low in the middle.