sobrius

Latin

Etymology

From sē- (“without”) +‎ ēbrius (“intoxicated”).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Please explain the phonology. How does sē- + ēbrius become sōbrius?”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsoː.bri.us/, [ˈs̠oːbriʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈso.bri.us/, [ˈsɔːbrius]

Adjective

sōbrius (feminine sōbria, neuter sōbrium); first/second-declension adjective

1. sober (not drunk)
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.785:

     Ecce suburbānā rediēns male sōbrius aede

     See! [Someone] barely sober, returning from the suburban shrine, [...].
     (That is, someone having drank wine at the June festival of Fors Fortuna.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sōbrius	sōbria	sōbrium		sōbriī	sōbriae	sōbria
Genitive	sōbriī	sōbriae	sōbriī		sōbriōrum	sōbriārum	sōbriōrum
Dative	sōbriō		sōbriō		sōbriīs
Accusative	sōbrium	sōbriam	sōbrium		sōbriōs	sōbriās	sōbria
Ablative	sōbriō	sōbriā	sōbriō		sōbriīs
Vocative	sōbrie	sōbria	sōbrium		sōbriī	sōbriae	sōbria

Descendants

• Catalan: sobri
• Old French: sobre
  • → Dutch: sober
  • → English: sober
  • French: sobre
• Italian: sobrio
• Portuguese: sóbrio
• Romanian: sobru
• Spanish: sobrio
• → Proto-West Germanic: *sūbrī (see there for further descendants)

References

• “sobrius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sobrius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sobrius in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• sobrius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.