soror

English

Etymology

PIE word
*swésōr

Shortening; also from Latin soror (“sister”), akin to frater from Latin frāter (“brother”). Doublet of sister.

Noun

soror (plural sorors)

1. (colloquial) A sorority sister; a fellow member of one's sorority.
   • 2002, Cheryl Fall, Family Reunion Planning Kit for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Inc.:

     Gathering your fraters and sorors / If you were a member of a fraternity or sorority in college, gather your old fraters (brothers) and sorors (sisters) for a reunion.

Anagrams

• ROROs, ro-ros

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin soror.

Noun

soror (plural sorores)

1. sister

Latin

Picture dictionary

soror

atavia

atavus

abavia

abavus

proavia

proavus

avia

/

ava māterna

(LL.)

avus māternus

avia

/

ava paterna

(LL.)

avus paternus

sobrīna

/

cōnsobrīna

sobrīnus

/

cōnsobrīnus

mātruēlis

/

cōnsobrīna

mātruēlis

/

cōnsobrīnus

sobrīna

/

cōnsobrīna

sobrīnus

/

cōnsobrīnus

patruēlis

/

cōnsobrīna

patruēlis

/

cōnsobrīnus

mātertera

avunculus

amita

patruus

/

barbās

(ML.)

māter

pater

sobrīna

/

neptis

/

neptia

(LL.)

sobrīnus

/

nepōs

frātruēlis

(LL.) /

neptis

/

neptia

(LL.)

nepōs

/

frātruus

(ML.) /

frātruēlis

(LL.)

sorōrius

/

marītus sorōris

soror

frāter

frātria

/

uxor frātris

socrus

/

socra

(LL.)

socer

/

patraster

prōsocrus

prōsocer

absocrus

absocer

soror uxōris

frāter uxōris

glōs

lēvir

uxor

/

marīta

/

coniunx

/

nūpta

marītus

/

coniunx

gener

/

fīliaster

fīlia

/

nāta

fīlius

/

nātus

nurus

/

fīliastra

prōgener

neptis

/

neptia

(LL.)

nepōs

prōnurus

proneptis

pronepōs

abneptis

abnepōs

Click on blue labels in the image.

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *swé

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥

Proto-Indo-European *su-h₁ésh₂-ōr?

Proto-Indo-European *swé

Proto-Indo-European *-sōr

?

Proto-Indo-European *swésōr

Proto-Italic *swezōr

Latin soror

Inherited from Proto-Italic *swezōr, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɔ.rɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɔː.ror]

Noun

soror f (genitive sorōris); third declension

1. sister
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.31:

     Anna refert: “Ō lūce magis dīlēcta sorōrī, [...].”

     Anna replies: “O [Dido], more dear to [your] sister than daylight, [...].”
     (Anna, Dido’s beloved sister and confidant, speaks her first line in the Aeneid.)

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 5.599–600:

     Pliadās aspiciēs omnēs tōtumque sorōrum
     agmen, ubi ante Īdūs nox erit ūna super.

     You will see all the Pleiades, and the whole group of sisters, when there shall be one night remaining before the Ides.
     (See: Pleiades; Pleiades (Greek mythology).)

   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Proverbs.7.4:

     dīc sapientiae soror mea es et prūdentiam vocā amīcam tuam

     Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend.
     (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.; 1752 CE)

2. cousin, daughter of either a father's brother or of a mother's sister
3. female friend
4. (Christianity) sister, nun

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	soror	sorōrēs
genitive	sorōris	sorōrum
dative	sorōrī	sorōribus
accusative	sorōrem	sorōrēs
ablative	sorōre	sorōribus
vocative	soror	sorōrēs

Antonyms

• frāter

Derived terms

• sororcula
• sorōriō
• sorōritās
• sorōrius

Descendants

Via accusative sorōrem (~ *serōrem):

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Romanian: suroră
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Dalmatian: seraur
  • Istriot: sorura
  • Old Italian: sorore, serore
  • Old Venetan: sorore
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Old Lombard: seror
    • Lombard: seror
  • Piedmontese: sëror (Biella, Val Sesia)
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: seror
  • Old French: seror, serur
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Old Occitan: seror
    • Gascon: seror
    • → Old Spanish: seror
• Borrowings:
  • → Interlingua: soror
  • → Portuguese: soror

Via nominative soror:

• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: sorre (Logudorese), sorri (Campidanese)
• Balkano-Romance:
  • Romanian: sor
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Dalmatian: saur
  • Old Italian: soro, suoro, sere
  • Old Venetan: sor
  • Sicilian: soru
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: sûr
  • Romansh: sour
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: sor
  • Old Emilian: sore
  • Old Ligurian: sor
    • Ligurian: seu
  • Old Piedmontese: suor
    • Piedmontese: seur, seure
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: suèr
  • Old French: suer
    • French: sœur
    • Norman: soeu
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: sor
    • → Spanish: sor
  • Occitan:
    • Auvergnat: sòrre, suerre
    • Gascon: sòr
    • Languedocien: sòrre, sòr
    • Provençal: sòrre
    • Vivaro-Alpine: sór, sòrre
• Borrowings:
  • → English: soror

Via nominative Vulgar Latin *sora (< soror):

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Aromanian: sorã
  • Megleno-Romanian: soră
  • Romanian: soră
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: sora, suora, ⇒ sorella
  • Neapolitan: sora (dialectal plural serure < *serōrēs < sorōrēs)
  • ⇒ Venetan: sorela, soreła
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansh: sora
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Emilian: sôra
  • Piedmontese: seura
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: suèra

Further reading

• “soror”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “soror”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "soror", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “soror”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “sŏror”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 12: Sk–š, page 115
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “sŏror”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 610

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• sóror

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *swé

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥

Proto-Indo-European *su-h₁ésh₂-ōr?

Proto-Indo-European *swé

Proto-Indo-European *-sōr

?

Proto-Indo-European *swésōr

Proto-Italic *swezōr

Latin sororlbor.

Portuguese soror

Learned borrowing from Latin soror.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /soˈɾoʁ/ [soˈɾoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /soˈɾoʁ/ [soˈɾoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /soˈɾoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /soˈɾoʁ/ [soˈɾoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /soˈɾoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈɾoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈɾoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈɾo.ɾi/

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Hyphenation: so‧ror

Noun

soror f (plural sorores)

1. sister (female member of a religious community)

   Synonym: irmã

Related terms

• sororidade

References

• “soror”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “soror”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “soror”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026