LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininesecond declension

sorbus

sorbus f (genitive sorbī)

Meaning

  1. femininesorb; service tree; Sorbus domestica

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativesorbussorbī
genitivesorbīsorbōrum
dativesorbōsorbīs
accusativesorbumsorbōs
ablativesorbōsorbīs
vocativesorbesorbī

sorbus, i, f.,
I. the true sorb- or servicetree: Sorbus domestica, Linn.; Col. 5, 10, 19; Plin. 16, 18, 30, § 74; Pall. Jan. 15, 1 al.

Origins

Unknown. Pokorny links Russian соробали́на (sorobalína), сорбали́на (sorbalína, “rose hip, blackberry”) and Lithuanian serbentà, serbeñtas (“redcurrant, blackcurrant”) and others (also comparing the verb sir̃bti, sir̃pti (“to ripen”)), reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *ser-, *ser-bʰ- (“red, reddish-brown”). De Vaan maintains that this connection is possible, but adds that the meaning of the root would not be “red”. Instead, these words may be derived from a common non-Indo-European substrate source *sVrb- (“berry”). Probably unrelated to sorbeō (“to drink, suck up, slurp”).

Descendants
  • Italiansorbo
  • Romaniansorb
  • Spanishsuerbo
  • Englishservicefrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea
  • Englishsorbfrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea
  • Frenchsorbefrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea
  • Italiansorbafrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea
  • Portuguesesorvafrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea
  • Spanishserbafrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea
  • Frenchsorbierfrom Vulgar Latin *sorbea

In English words that came into English from sorbus

  • serviceberrysorbus
  • sorbsorbus
  • service*sorbea

Quick answers

What does sorbus mean in Latin?
sorbus, a noun, means “sorb; service tree; Sorbus domestica”.
What is the genitive of sorbus?
The genitive singular is sorbī. sorbus is feminine, second declension.
Which English words come from sorbus?
English words that go back to Latin sorbus include serviceberry, sorb and service.