Sock. Hose. Stocking. However we define these related words today, or however we use them in a sentence interchangeably, one thing is for sure. These items are not the same as they are now. For example, the sock in Roman times was a soft leather slipper Roman women, and some high councilmen, wore. Hose covered the leg, but not the foot. The term “stocking” didn’t even relate to clothing apparel until the sixteenth century, and its evolution up the leg from the foot took hundreds of years.

The history of men’s and women’s “socks” begins with the birth of garments that were “put on” rather than merely “wrapped around.”

Greek women in 600 B.C. first put on a low, soft sandal-like shoe that covered mainly the toes and heel. They were called sykhos, and if a man wore them others thought it was a sign of shame. Sykhos became a favorite comic theater gimmick, guaranteed to win a male actor laughter.

Roman women copied the Greek sykhos and Latinized its name to soccus. it, too, was donned by Roman mimes, making it for centuries the standard comedy apparel, as baggy pants would later become the clown’s trademark.

The soccus was the forerunner of the term sock and the mid-calf sock. The soccus fashion was picked up by the British where the Anglo-Saxons shortened the word to soc. The Anglo-Saxons discovered that a soft soc worn in a rough-feeling boot protected the foot from blisters and abrasions. Too, the soccus traveled to Germany, where they were also worn under boots. Germans shortened the word to socc. Until the nineteenth century, socc referred to both footwear and a light-weight shoe.

Reference

Panati, C. (1987). Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, NY.