When the outer gate was opened they would sally forth, then that gate would be closed. When they returned, the opposite procedure was observed. The sallyport used in jails is constructed similarly to its medieval namesake, with two strong gates enclosing a small inner area. I've used this expression and everyone knows what I mean but we can't seem to find the origin of the word. Well, seeing that you've thrown down the gauntlet like that, we simply had to try but, for such a simple word, there is very little definite that we can say about its origin.
Many authorities cite a word for a small cabin, either the French cahute or the Dutch kajuit .
Thus, to be in cahoots with someone meant, literally, that they lived together in a confined space and implied close cooperation. Why it should have picked up a final S is unclear. I have currently run out of books that interest me in the local and my personal library and find this site vastly entertaining as well as educational. I was reading the archives and ran across 'nob' as meaning head, and wondered about its relationship with hobnob . First we must look at the Old English words hab and nab .