Etymograph

English

sorb

Sorb comes from Latin sorbus, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘red, reddish-brown’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-1‘red, reddish-brown’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsorbus2
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sorbier2
  4. Englishtodaysorb2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sorbus, which cites Pokorny
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sorb

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-Wiktionary, Latin sorbus, which cites Pokorny‘red, reddish-brown’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsorbusWiktionary, English sorb
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sorbierWiktionary, English sorb
  4. EnglishtodaysorbWiktionary, English sorb

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘red, reddish-brown’

series, serve, hero, stream, conservative, desert, sort, insert, reservoir, assertion, sermon, conservatism, exert, heresy, assertive, concierge, observant, servitude, heretic, serviceable, sark, sorcery, sorcerer, servile, conservator, serf, strudel, sere, 32 more

through Latin sorbus

service

Another origin of sorb

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srebʰ-‘to sip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srobʰéyeti‘to be sipping, sucking’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sorβeō‘to suck in’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsorbeō‘to suck in, drink up’
  5. Englishtodaysorb

Today it means

noun The service tree, Sorbus domestica.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sorb”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sorbus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / sorb

Shirt and support for this word