sorso

Forms

sorso m (plural sorsi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *sorpsus, a form standing for sorptus, the past participle of sorbeō (“to suck in, swallow”).^[2][3][4][5] DELI, quoting Alessio, explains the ⟨ps⟩ as remade on the perfect sorpsī, used beside the classical sorbuī;^[2][3] Nocentini also sees the analogy of the perfect.^[2][3] Devoto instead takes the Vulgar Latin form as a crossing with morsum “bite”.^[6] Wiktionary gives a Late Latin sorsum.^[1]

Meyer-Lübke lists the noun among the derivatives of the verb whose Italian outcome is sorbire.^[7]

Latin sorbeō comes from Proto-Italic *sorfeie-, an iterative Proto-Indo-European *srobh-eie- “to take sips, slurp”, related to Ancient Greek ῥοφέω (rhophéō, “to slurp, gulp”) and Lithuanian surbti (“to suck”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Cino da Pistoia, before 1337, with the sense “the amount of liquid drunk at one time”: per mia sete temperare a sorsi (“to quench my thirst by sips”).^[2][9][4] Zingarelli dates the word to about 1260.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio contrasted the word with a great quantity: all the rivers together, poured down his throat, would be un picciol sorso.^[11][12] The derivatives followed early: sorseggiare “to sip” is in Bencivenni in the first half of the 14th century, and sorsata “a gulp” is recorded in Cellini.^[2]

The weaker sense “a small amount of a liquid”, as in a drop of wine, is dated 1891.^[2] Common phrases are a sorso a sorso, slowly, a sip at a time (also figurative), and in un sorso, all at once.^[4][10][13]

Timeline

• Before 1337 – Cino da Pistoia uses sorso.^[2]
• First half of the 14th century – Bencivenni uses sorsegiare “to sip”.^[2]
• Before 1571 – Cellini uses sorsata.^[2]
• 1891 – Sorso is recorded for a small amount of liquid.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. sip, mouthful, gulp: the amount of liquid swallowed at one time: Prese un sorso di tè e riprese a parlare.^[4][14][15]
2. (by extension) A small amount of a drink, a drop: Me ne versi solo un sorso?^[4][14][15]

Word family

• sorsata
• sorseggiare
• sorsetto
• sorsellino
• sorsino
• sorsare

Related words

• sorbire
• assorbire
• Latin sorbeō

Usage notes

A sorso a sorso means slowly, sip by sip, also figuratively;^[4][14][13] in un sorso means in one go, and by hyperbole greedily and fast.^[4][14][13] A separate literary sorso, an adverb meaning “on high”, from Latin sursum, is recorded in Old Italian.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 505
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 506