sun English · revision 3206

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf|origins=ine-pro *sóh₂wl̥}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sʌn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sonne]], sunne,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|sunne|t=the sun]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*sunnǭ|alt=*sunnōn]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Old Saxon and Old High German sunna (German Sonne, Dutch zon), Old Norse sunna and Gothic sunnō,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*s(u)wen-]], an alternative form of the root [[ine-pro|*sóh₂wl̥|alt=*sawel-|t=the sun]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) which with an l-suffix gave Latin sōl and Greek hḗlios.^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[solar]] and perhaps to [[south]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English sunne is found about 725, in ''Beowulf'';^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's first quotation is from about 888.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English sunne was feminine, as generally in Germanic, and the feminine pronoun was used for the sun in English until the 16th century;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) since then the masculine has prevailed, without necessarily implying personification.^(Etymonline) The sun as an object of worship is from about 1205.^(OED 1989) ''Under the sun'', “anywhere in the world”, is by about 1200, and late Old English had under sunnan.^(Etymonline) ''The empire on which the sun never sets'' (1630) was first the Spanish, later the British.^(Etymonline) ''A place in the sun'' is from the 1680s, first in a translation of Pascal's ''Pensées''.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to expose to the sun”, is from 1519^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) and “to bask in the sun” from about 1600.^(Etymonline) ''Sunbeam'' is Old English, about 1000, ''sundial'' from 1599 and ''sundown'' from 1620.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English sunne.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – ''sunbeam''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – ''under the sun''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1519 – verb, to expose to the sun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 16th century – the masculine pronoun for the sun.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – to bask in the sun.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1630 – ''the empire on which the sun never sets''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1680s – ''a place in the sun''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[star]] around which the Earth and the other [[planet|alt=planets]] of the [[solar system]] move, giving light and heat.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The light and heat from the sun; sunshine: ''sit in the sun''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To expose to the sun's rays; to [[bask]] in the sun.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sunlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[south]]

+ * [[solar]]

+ * [[sunny]]

+ * [[Sunday]]

+ * [[sunshine]]

+ * [[sunbeam]]

+ * [[helium]]

+ * [[sol]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An unrelated ''sun'', from Japanese, is a unit of length of about 3 centimetres, from 1727.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}