Etymology

sob

S1O1B3

Today it means: A cry with a short, sudden expulsion of breath. Full definition →

Middle English sobben ← Middle Low German sabben
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sob · noun, verb, interjection1

  1. Middle Low German · derived fromsabben“to drool, slobber, salivate”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromsobben
  3. English todaysob

From Middle English sobben, perhaps from Middle Low German sabben (“to drool, slobber, salivate”). Cognate with West Frisian sabje, sobje (“to suck”), Dutch zabben, sabbelen (“to suck”), zabberen (“to drool”), German Low German sabbeln, severn (“to drool”), German sabbern (“to drool, slobber”), Norwegian sabbe (“to spill, drop, make a mess”). Compare also Old English sēofian (“to lament”), German saufen (“to drink, swig”).

sob · verb2

See sop.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.