sobriety

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sobriete, also sobrietie,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French sobriete,^[5][6][4] or directly borrowed from Latin sōbrietās (“moderation, temperance”),^[7][5][6] from sōbrius (“sober”).^[7][5][8] Etymonline explains the Latin adjective as a variant of sē- (“without”) with ēbrius (“drunk”), which is of unknown origin;^[5] the OED only notes that it expresses the opposite of ēbrius and calls its further etymology doubtful.^[7] Compare sobrietà, sobriedad and sobriedade.^[7] Middle English also had sobrete, from Old French sobreté, from 1340 in the “Ayenbite of Inwyt”,^[2] which Etymonline dates to about 1300.^[5] The noun soberness is older than sobriety.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moderation in the indulgence of appetite, especially in strong drink: 1401, in the Political Poems.^[7] Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century, in the sense of moderation in desires,^[5] and the MED's first quotation, from 1448, praises "pees and sobriete" at drinking.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Anglo-Norman word already covered moderation in behaviour, restraint in eating and drinking, and seriousness of mind,^[9] and in Middle English sobriety was moderation as one of the cardinal virtues.^[2] From 1548, in Hall's chronicle, it also meant staidness, gravity, soundness of judgement.^[7][5] From 1582, in the Rheims New Testament, it meant moderation in any respect.^[7] Johnson (1755) quoted Jeremy Taylor's remark that sobriety had come to mean temperance in drinking, and listed freedom from drink at the moment, general temperance, freedom from passion and calmness as further senses.^[10] The plural, sober qualities, is recorded from 1826, in Charles Lamb.^[7]

Timeline

• 1401 – moderation in appetite, especially in drink.^[7]
• 1548 – staidness, gravity, soundness of judgement.^[7][5]
• 1582 – moderation in any respect, avoidance of excess.^[7]
• 1826 – in the plural, sober qualities.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state of being sober, not drunk; abstinence from alcohol: He has kept his sobriety for ten years.^[11][3][7]
2. Moderation; avoidance of excess.^[11][7]
3. Seriousness or gravity of manner or judgement: the sobriety of the report.^[11][7][12]

Word family

• insobriety

Related words

• sober
• soberness
• inebriate
• ebriety

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press