Etymograph

English

sort

Sort comes from Old French sorte ‘class, kind’, from Latin sors ‘lot, fate, share, rank, category’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sértisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sortis‘joining’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsors‘lot’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortemaccusative form of sors
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sorte‘class’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sort
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588sort

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sértisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sortis‘joining’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsors‘lot’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortemaccusative form of sors
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sorte‘class’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sort
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588sort

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “For he is groſſe and like the maſſie earth,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’

service, series, serve, hero, stream, conservative, desert, reservoir, insert, sermon, conservatism, assertion, heresy, concierge, observant, servitude, exert, heretic, assertive, sark, servile, conservator, serf, strudel, sere, 33 more

through Latin sors ‘lot, fate, share, rank, category’

consortium, sorcery, 5 more

through Latin sortem

sorcerer

Another origin of sort

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sértisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sortis‘joining, joint’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsors‘a casting or drawing of lots, a decision by lot, by fate, or by allotment or share’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortīre‘draw lots, divide, choose’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sortir‘to allot, sort’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sorten
  8. Englishtodaysort

Today it means

noun A general type.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

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

Shirt and support for this word