sorbet

Forms

sorbet m (plural sorbets)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Italian sorbetto (“drink of the Turks”), which is from Ottoman Turkish شربت (şerbet, “cooling drink”), from Arabic شَرْبَة (šarba, “drink”), from شَرِبَ (šariba, “to drink”).^[2][3][1] The TLFi dates the Italian word to 1581 and gives the Italian step as probable;^[2] Bloch and Wartburg derive the French word straight from the Turkish.^[4] Wiktionary puts a Persian step, شَرْبَت (šarbat), between the Arabic and the Turkish.^[1] Meyer-Lübke explains the ⟨o⟩ of the Italian form by the influence of Latin sorbeō (“to suck in, drink”).^[5][6]

The same Arabic root gave sirop through Italian.^[3][5] The word spread to other European languages,^[4] as Spanish sorbete and Portuguese sorvete,^[3][5] and German Scherbet.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is Pierre Belon's account of his travels in the East (1553), where the Grand Turk cools his sorbet, a drink of lemon, sugar and water, with snow.^[2] The FEW has it from 1544, of a half-frozen drink.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

At first the word named a cooling drink of the Orient.^[2][3] By 1690 it was the preparation of sugar and lemon from which that drink was made, and before 1806 the drink obtained by beating it with water.^[3][7]

From 1782 sorbet also named a light frozen preparation of water and fruit, as distinct from ice cream and parfait, and this is the only sense still alive.^[3][2] In the 19th century the phrase sorbet glacé (1871) was still needed; in the 20th it would be a pleonasm.^[3]

Timeline

• 1553 – Pierre Belon describes the Grand Turk cooling his sorbet with snow.^[2]
• 1581 – The Italian sorbetto is recorded.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière describes the oriental preparation of sugar and lemon.^[7][3]
• 1763 – The ice-making pan appears as sarbotiere.^[2]
• 1782 – Sorbet names a light frozen dessert;^[2][3] sorbetière appears.^[2][3]
• 1871 – The phrase sorbet glacé is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) An oriental drink of fruit juice and sugar beaten with water, sometimes half-frozen.^[8][2]
2. A light water ice made with fruit juice or pulp, sometimes with a liqueur, as opposed to ice cream; a sorbet, un sorbet à la poire.^[8][2][9]

Word family

• sorbetière

Related words

• sirop
• Italian sorbetto

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 171a
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)