Sobs
/sɒbz/noun
The involuntary, convulsive sounds or breaths produced while crying, or the third-person singular form of “sob.”
Did you know?Unlike many English words, “sob” has no securely identified ancient root; historical linguists generally treat it as an expressive, imitative formation modeled on the sound of weeping.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic period
Germanic
*sub- / *subb-
“A proposed expressive sound-pattern associated with sobbing or gulping; the reconstruction is uncertain.”
Middle English, late 14th century
Middle English
sobben
“To sob or make convulsive sounds while crying.”
Early Modern English, 16th century
English
sob
“To weep with audible, catching breaths.”
Modern English
English
sobs
“Plural noun for sobbing sounds, or the present-tense form meaning “he, she, or it sobs.””