Etymologically
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sunscreen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsʌn.skɹiːn/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English sun + screen.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A screen giving protection against the sun: 1738, in G. Smith's Curious Relations.[2][3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1730–40.[4]

Semantic evolution

For two centuries a sunscreen was an object, such as a portable or handheld screen or part of a building, that kept off the sun.[2][3] From 1937, in an advertisement in the New York Times, it was a substance meant to protect the skin from ultraviolet rays and prevent sunburn, and now usually a cream or lotion containing one.[2] Etymonline finds the lotion sense by 1954, and Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1958.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 1738 – a screen giving protection against the sun.[2][3]
  • 1937 – a substance, and later a cream or lotion, protecting the skin from ultraviolet rays.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1954.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cream or lotion put on the skin to protect it from the sun's ultraviolet rays and prevent sunburn: Put on more sunscreen after swimming.[6][7][8][2]
  2. A chemical in such a preparation that absorbs or filters out ultraviolet light.[5][4][2]
  3. A screen or structure, such as a latticework over a patio, that shields a place from the sun.[2][4]

Word family

  • sunscreening

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap