"pertaining to or derived from the mountain ash," 1815, in sorbic acid, which was so called because it was first isolated from the berries of that tree (see sorb).
Entries linking to sorbic
Sorb n.
1843, from German Sorbe, from Slavic Serb, the national designation. A Slavic people surviving amid the Germans in Lusatia, eastern Saxony, also known as Wends (see Wend (n.)). Related: Sorbish; Sorbian (1836); earlier Sorabian (1788), from Medieval Latin Sorabi.