sobrius

Forms

sōbrius (feminine sōbria, neuter sōbrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] The comparative sōbrior is attested only in Laberius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably formed with the negating prefix sē- (“apart, without”) on the base of ēbrius (“drunk”), “away from drunkenness”.^[4][2][1] De Vaan explains its ⟨ō⟩ either from ⟨*swe-obrio-⟩, as Weiss proposed, or from ⟨*se-obrio-⟩, the vowels contracting; both preforms are uncertain.^[4] He derives ⟨ēbrius⟩ from Proto-Indo-European *h₁egʷʰ- (“to drink”), cognate with Hittite eku-zi (“drinks”) and Ancient Greek νήφω (nḗphō, “to be sober”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4][5] who has the advice that if you are sober you should not speak ill of people.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is “not drunk, sober”, which also implies being in control of oneself;^[2][3] Cicero opposes it to the drunken.^[2][3] Poets transfer it to things free from drink, as Propertius' sober night that torments lovers.^[2] From Terence on it describes a person sober in habits and judgement, staid and sensible, as the thrifty and sober brother who works on the farm.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “sober, temperate, prudent, moderate”.^[6] English sober (mid-14th century) comes from it through Old French sobre.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a sober man.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of a sensible, frugal man.^[2][5]
• mid-14th century – English sober through French.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not drunk, sober; in full possession of one's faculties.^[2][3][1]
2. Of things, free from drinking.^[2]
3. Sober in habits or judgement, temperate, sensible, staid.^[2][6]

Word family

• sōbriefactus
• sōbrietās

Related words

• ēbrius
• English sober

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com