sackcloth

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a coarse, rough fabric like the material traditionally used for sacks

   The bundle was wrapped in a square of sackcloth.

2. 2
   noun

   a garment of coarse cloth worn historically as a sign of mourning, repentance, or humiliation

   The story describes the mourners putting on sackcloth and ashes.

From Middle English sakcloth, a compound of sack and cloth. Because rough sacking was uncomfortable and inexpensive, garments made from it became traditional symbols of grief, penitence, and self-denial.

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