English
sorry
Sorry comes from Old English sāriġ ‘sorrowful, sad’, from Proto-Germanic *sairagaz ‘sad’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂yro ‘hard, painful’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂yro1‘hard’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sairagaz1‘sad’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sairag1‘hurting’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sāriġ1‘feeling or expressing grief’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sory1‘painful’
- Englishearliest quotation 1948sorry1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English sorry
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1948, Truman Capote, Other Voices: “... often the only movement on the landscape is…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂yroWiktionary, English sorry‘hard’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sairagazWiktionary, English sorry‘sad’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sairagWiktionary, English sorry‘hurting’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sāriġWiktionary, English sorry‘feeling or expressing grief’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500soryWiktionary, English sorry‘painful’
- Englishearliest quotation 1948sorryWiktionary, English sorry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1948, Truman Capote, Other Voices: “... often the only movement on the landscape is…”
The story
Unrelated to sorrow despite the similarity in form and meaning.
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Today it means
adj Regretful or apologetic for one's actions.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sorry”. 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 *seh₂yro / sorry