son English · revision 2521

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf (Old English sunu)|origins=ine-pro *su(H)nus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sʌn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sone]], [[inh|ang|sunu]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*sunuz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*su(H)nus|t=son]], derived from [[m|ine-pro|*su(H)-|t=to give birth]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Its relatives include [[de|Sohn]], [[nl|zoon]] and [[non|sonr]], and outside Germanic [[lt|sūnus]] and [[grc|υἱός|tr=huiós|t=son]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A male child; also a male descendant, and the second person of the Trinity: Old English ''sunu'', about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, a person sharing some quality as if its son, was already Old English.^(Etymonline) The form ''sone'' is found probably before 1150,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''son-in-law'' before 1325, in the ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988) A man regarded as a product of some place is a ''son'' from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) ''Son of a gun'' is from 1708.^(Etymonline) Smyth's ''Sailor's Word-Book'' (1867) explains it as a mildly contemptuous term first used of boys born at sea,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) though Etymonline notes that most explanations come more than a century after the phrase.^(Etymonline) ''Son of'' as the title of a sequel, as in ''Son of Tarzan'', is from 1917.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''sunu'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1150 – ''sone''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1325 – ''son-in-law''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – a man from a given place.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1708 – ''son of a gun''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1917 – ''Son of'' for a sequel.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A male child in relation to his parents.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A male descendant.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A man thought of as the product of a place or influence: ''a son of the soil''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Used as a familiar form of address to a young man.^(AHD)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' The second person of the [[Trinity]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sonly]]

+ * [[sonhood]]

+ * [[sonless]]

+ * [[sonlike]]

+ * [[sonship]]

+ * [[godson]]

+ * [[grandson]]

+ * [[son-in-law]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[daughter]]

+ * [[sonny]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate word ''son'', a slow Cuban dance and song, is from Spanish ''son'', “sound”, recorded in English from the 20th century.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}