Etymograph

English

sortie

Sortie comes from French sortie ‘act of exiting’, from sortir ‘to exit, go out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind, tie together’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind, tie together’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‘something used to determine chances, a lot’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortior‘to cast or draw lots’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortīrīpresent active infinitive of sortior
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sortir
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to exit, go out’
  9. French, derivedc. 1600–presentsortie‘act of exiting’feminine past participle of sortir
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1827same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind, tie together’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‘something used to determine chances, a lot’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortior‘to cast or draw lots’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortīrīpresent active infinitive of sortior
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sortir
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to exit, go out’
  9. French, derivedc. 1600–presentsortie‘act of exiting’feminine past participle of sortir
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1827same form

Earliest quotation: 1827, John Thomas Jones, London: […] [C. Roworth] for T[homas] Egerton: “The events of these sieges show that a bold…”

The story

The noun is borrowed from French sortie (‘act of exiting; exit, way out; (military) sally, sortie’), the feminine past participle of sortir (‘to exit, go out’), from Old French sortir, from Latin sortīrī, the present active infinitive of sortior (‘to cast or draw lots; to choose, select; to distribute, divide; to obtain, receive; to share’), from sors (‘something used to determine chances, a lot; casting or drawing of lots; decision by lot; a share’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (‘to bind, tie together; a thread’)), possibly influenced by surrēctus (‘arisen, having been caused to arise; gotten up, having been gotten up’), the perfect passive participle of surgō (‘to arise, get up, rise’), from subrigō (‘to lift up; to straighten’), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + regō (‘to direct, guide, steer; to govern, rule; to manage, oversee’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (‘to right oneself, straighten; just; right’)).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind, tie together’

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

through Latin sors ‘something used to determine chances, a lot’

consortium, sorcery, consort, 4 more

Today it means

noun An attack made by troops from a besieged position; a sally.

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

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

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