sors Latin · revision 2884

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ser-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈsɔrs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɔrs]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sors''' ''f'' (genitive sortis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Plautus has a nominative ''sortis'', and an ablative ''sortī'' is common.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*sorti-|t=joining, joint]], [[inh|ine-pro|*sr̥-ti-|t=joining]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*ser-|t=to bind, line up]], as in [[sero|alt=serō]] “to join together” and [[series]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The OLD calls the origin doubtful, perhaps from ''serō''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008) whose ''Casina'' has a drawing of lots in which someone is warned to check “that there is no other lot under the water”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a [[m|en|lot]], a tablet or token cast into an urn, and the drawing of lots, so that ''sorte'' meant “by lot”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Oracles were often given on lots, and it came to mean an oracular reply, as in Ennius.^(OLD 2012) What fell to one by lot was a share or portion, and it was a unit of land in one system of measurement.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In money-lending it was the capital, as against the interest, as in Plautus and Terence.^(OLD 2012) It meant one's lot in life, fate or destiny, as in Virgil's “the mind of men, ignorant of fate and of future lot”, and a kind or class of things.^(OLD 2012) Medieval Latin used it for a share of an inheritance divided by lot, and so for an estate or holding.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary) It survives as Italian ''sorte'', French ''sort'', Spanish ''suerte'' and Romanian ''soartă''.^(Wiktionary) English ''sort'' came from Old French in the late 14th century, and ''sorcery'' from a Latin derivative.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for lots and for capital.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for an oracle.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero describes lots cast into an urn.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for fate.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''sorcery'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – English ''sort'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|lot]] (used in drawing lots).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The drawing of lots, ''sorte'' by lot.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An [[m|en|oracle|alt=oracular]] reply.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A share, portion; an allotment.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(finance)'' Capital, principal.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # One's lot, [[m|en|fate]], destiny.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A kind, class.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A share of an inheritance; an estate, holding.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cōnsors]]

+ * [[dissors]]

+ * [[exsors]]

+ * [[sortiārius]]

+ * [[sortifex]]

+ * [[sortior]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[serō]]

+ * [[en|sort]]

+ * [[en|sorcery]]

+ * [[en|consort]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}