sororitas

Forms

sorōritās f (genitive sorōritātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin soror + -itās in Medieval Latin.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latham records it from about 1422,^[3] in the sense of sisterhood, membership of or affiliation to a monastic community.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was used beside fraternitas when a monastic community admitted people, lay people included, into its fellowship: a register of 1428 receives people into the fraternity and sorority of the whole order.^[2] An English glossary renders it “systerhede”.^[2] Wiktionary labels the sense “sisterhood” Renaissance Latin.^[1] English took it over in the 1530s for a society of women.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1422 – First recorded, according to Latham.^[3]
• 1428 – A register receives people into the fraternity and sorority of the order.^[2]
• 1530s – Borrowed into English as sorority, a society of women.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Sisterhood, membership of or affiliation to a monastic community, also of lay people.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• English sorority

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com