From French 'sabot' (wooden clog) — 'sabotage' likely meant clumsy, clog-footed work rather than literally throwing shoes into machines.
A person who deliberately destroys or obstructs something, especially for political advantage.
From French 'saboter' (to bungle, destroy willfully), from 'sabot' (wooden clog/shoe). The popular story is that French workers threw their wooden shoes into machinery during labor disputes, but the real origin is likely that 'saboter' meant 'to walk noisily in clogs' — i.e., to trample, to do something clumsily. Key roots: sabot (French: "wooden clog").
The shoe-in-the-machinery story is probably itself sabotaged. While 'sabotage' does come from 'sabot' (wooden clog), most linguists think it's because 'saboter' meant 'to trample clumsily' or 'to botch work deliberately' — not literally throw shoes. However, the myth is so satisfying that it has become more famous than the truth, which is ironically what makes