sorbus Latin · revision 5191

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Cato}}

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''sorbus''' ''f'' (genitive sorbī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Pokorny linked [[ru|сорбали́на|tr=sorbalína|t=rose hip, blackberry]] and [[lt|serbentà|t=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”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan finds the berry ''sorbum'' from Cato and the tree from Veranius.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the service tree, ''Sorbus domestica'', and allied species, described by Columella and Pliny the Elder; its fruit was ''sorbum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008) It was also spelled ''sorvus''.^(OLD 2012)

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+ It survives in [[it|sorbo]] and [[fr|sorbier]].^(Wiktionary) A Vulgar Latin *sorbea gave Old English ''syrfe'' and Old French ''sorbe'', whence the tree name [[en|service]], recorded in the 1520s.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato mentions the service berry, ''sorbum''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella describes the tree.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1520s – English ''service'' as a tree name is recorded.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|service tree]], ''Sorbus domestica''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sorbum]]

+ * [[en|service]]

+ * [[en|sorb]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}