sot
n. countablen. a person who drinks too much alcohol. It is an old-fashioned or rude word for a drunkard.
n. a habitual drunkard or heavy drinker. Often carries a derogatory or archaic tone; frequently used in literary contexts to describe a character's moral failing.
The sot spent every evening in the local tavern.
In the old play, the sot serves as a comic relief character who eventually learns the value of hard work.
The poet's lament for the fallen city includes a sot who, despite the surrounding chaos, remains indifferent to the world's decay while nursing his drink.
From Middle English sot, from Old English sot, sott (“foolish, stupid”), from Medieval Latin sottus (“foolish”), of obscure origin and relation. Possibly an expressive interjection, similar to French zut! (“damn it!”). Compare Middle Low German sot (“insane, foolish, stupid”), Middle Dutch sot ("foolish, absurd, stupid"; > modern Dutch zot), French sot (“stupid, foolish, goofy”).
From Middle English sotten, from the adjective (see above).
Compare sod (vulgar interjection).
From Cantonese short (sot¹, “crazy”), itself a clipping of English short circuit.
Analogically formed on the model of get:got by those who use either git (“get”) or set (“sit”).