sorbo

Forms

sorbo m (plural sorbi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sŏrbus (“service tree”), the Latin name of the tree; the neuter sorbum named its fruit.^[2][3][1][4] Latin tree names were feminine, and the feminine survives in the dialects, as Neapolitan sòreva and Sicilian sciorba.^[3]

The word is pan-Romance: Romanian sorb, French sorbe, Occitan sorba, Spanish serba and Portuguese sorva continue it, mostly for the fruit, and French sorbier and Spanish serbal name the tree with a derivative.^[5][6][3] The Latin word also passed into Germanic: Old English syrfe.^[4]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[2][7][8] Nocentini traces it to a form meaning “red”, after the colour of the berries, comparing Lithuanian sartas (“sorrel”).^[3] De Vaan finds the comparison with Russian соробали́на (sorobalína, “rose hip, blackberry”) and Lithuanian serbentà (“currant”) possible, but not as evidence for a root meaning “red”: at most they point to a non-Indo-European word for “berry”.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante, in the Inferno (1300–1313), is the first to name the tree: tra li lazzi sorbi / si disconvien fruttare al dolce fico (“among the sour sorbs it is not fitting for the sweet fig to bear fruit”).^[2][8][10]

Semantic evolution

The fruit, sorba, is recorded about 1350 in the Italian translation of Crescenzi, which also describes the tree.^[2][10] The Tommaseo cites later writers on the hard wood of the tree, used for screws, tools and turned work.^[10] In Tuscany the name is attested from the 11th century in the place name Sorbello, and sorbo with its derivatives is a common place name; northern Italy lacks the word and calls the tree melesco or témolo.^[4]

Chemistry took several names from the tree: sorbina (1783), a sugar, and acido sorbico (1859).^[4] Botany uses sorbo for the whole genus Sorbus, with sorbo degli uccellatori for the rowan, whose berries fowlers used as bait.^[11][12][13]

Timeline

• 11th century – The place name Sorbello is recorded in Tuscany.^[4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante names the sorbi in the Inferno.^[2]
• About 1350 – Sorba, the fruit, appears in the translation of Crescenzi.^[2]
• 1783 – Scopoli names sorbina.^[4]
• 1859 – Acido sorbico is named by A. W. Hofmann.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The service tree (Sorbus domestica), a tall tree of the rose family with pinnate leaves, white flowers and edible fruits, the sorbe.^[11][12][14]
2. The hard reddish-brown wood of this tree.^[11][12][15]
3. (botany) Any tree of the genus Sorbus;^[11][12][7] sorbo degli uccellatori is the rowan (Sorbus aucuparia).^[11][12][7]

Word family

• sorba
• sorbico
• sorbite
• sorbitolo
• sorbosio

Related words

• sorbola
• Latin sorbus
• French sorbier

Usage notes

Sorbo is also a rare shortened form of sorabo, the Sorbian language of Lusatia; the GDLI quotes it from V. Pisani.^[11][8][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3555
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 478
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse