sobrietas

Forms

sōbrietās f (genitive sōbrietātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sōbrius (“sober, not drunk”) + -tās.^[2][1] De Vaan takes sōbrius to continue, probably, the negating prefix sē- with the preform of ēbrius “drunk”, but he notes that the long ⟨ō⟩ is hard to explain.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from the historian Sisenna onwards.^[3] The OLD's earliest citation is Valerius Maximus, who speaks of a penalty paid for violated sobriety, in the sense of freedom from drunkenness.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is soberness, temperance in drinking, in Valerius Maximus and Seneca.^[2][4] It widened to sobriety of habits and staidness in Apuleius and the jurists,^[2] and to moderation and continence in general, as in the Vulgate.^[4] Apuleius and Prudentius personify Sobrietās as the enemy of Venus,^[4][5] and Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for good sense in counsel.^[5][6]

Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the senses of sobriety and temperance,^[7] and medieval writers in Britain use it both for freedom from drink and for temperance.^[8] English sobriety comes from Old French or directly from the Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 120–67 BC – Sisenna has the word.^[3][10]
• 1st century AD – Valerius Maximus uses it for soberness in drinking.^[2][10]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca speaks of a gloomy sobriety to be set aside at times.^[2][10]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for staidness and personifies it as the foe of Venus.^[2][10]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius makes Sobrietās a figure in the Psychomachia.^[4][10]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for prudence.^[5][10]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as sobriety.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Freedom from intoxication, sobriety, temperance in drinking.^[2][4]
2. Sobriety of habits, staidness; moderation, continence.^[2][4]
3. Good sense, prudence.^[5][6]
4. (personified) Sobrietās, the enemy of Venus.^[4][2]

Related words

• English sobriety

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de