sorbus
Forms
sorbus f (genitive sorbī); second declension[1]
Etymology
The origin is unknown.[2][1] Pokorny linked Russian сорбали́на (sorbalína, “rose hip, blackberry”) and Lithuanian serbentà (“currant”) and reconstructed a root *ser- “red”; de Vaan thinks the connection possible but at most points to a non-Indo-European word *sVrb- for “berry”.[2][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan finds the berry sorbum from Cato and the tree from Veranius.[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[3]
Semantic evolution
It was the service tree, Sorbus domestica, and allied species, described by Columella and Pliny the Elder; its fruit was sorbum.[4][5][2] It was also spelled sorvus.[4]
It survives in Italian sorbo and French sorbier.[1] A Vulgar Latin *sorbea gave Old English syrfe and Old French sorbe, whence the tree name English service, recorded in the 1520s.[6]
Timeline
- 234–149 BC – Cato mentions the service berry, sorbum.[2][3]
- 1st century AD – Columella describes the tree.[5][3]
- 1520s – English service as a tree name is recorded.[6]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- sorbum
- English service
- English sorb
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com