Etymologically
Log in

sobrinus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 16:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

sobrīnus m (genitive sobrīnī, feminine sobrīna); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *swesrīnos (“belonging to the sister”), from the word for “sister”, Latin soror, Proto-Indo-European *swésōr, with the suffix -īnus.[2][1][3] Intervocalic ⟨*-sr-⟩ became /br/, and de Vaan explains the initial ⟨so-⟩, which is not regular before a front vowel, as taken over from ⟨soror⟩.[2] Cognate with Old Church Slavonic сестринъ (sestrinŭ, “of the sister”) and Lithuanian seserė́nas (“sister's son”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Terence, whom he dates 190–159 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Originally a name for the children of sisters, it came to mean a cousin, and in legal usage a second cousin, the son of a parent's first cousin.[3][5] Cicero uses it among the degrees of kinship.[6]

British Medieval Latin glosses understood it as a sister's son, a nephew, and also used it for any relative.[7] It survives in Spanish sobrino and Portuguese sobrinho “nephew”.[1]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero lists it among the degrees of kinship.[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cousin; in law a second cousin.[3][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A sister's son, nephew; a relative.[7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b 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