son

A1 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /sʌn/ UK /sʌn/ See IPA manual

Homophones

sun /sʌn/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like shun /s/ vs /ʃ/

Freq #243

Meanings

1

noun
A person's male child.

Their son became a famous judge.
2

noun
A friendly way an older or senior person addresses a younger man or boy.

Son, can't you see that she's just a little girl?
3

noun
A man seen as a typical product of a particular place.

He is celebrated as a famous son of the city.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person's male child. boy

More lad

Opposites

daughter father mother parent

Word family

Forms sons

Derived forms biosonfursongodsongrandfather-father-songrandsonsistersonson-in-lawson-out-lawsonfuckersonheadsonhoodsonless

Appears in

Phrases (6)

See all

have a son
to be the parent of a male child

Verb + noun
eldest son
the first-born male child in a family

Adjective + noun
grown son
a son who has reached adulthood

Adjective + noun
only son
a male child with no brothers

Adjective + noun
teenage son
a male child who is between thirteen and nineteen years old

Adjective + noun
raise a son
to bring up a boy from childhood to adulthood

Verb + noun

Proverbs (5)

See all

Simplified etymology

Son comes from Old English and ultimately goes back to an Indo-European root associated with birth.

Etymology

From Middle English sonn, sone, sun, sune, from Old English sunu (“son”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to bear; give birth”).

sonn Middle English sunu Old English *sunu Proto-West Germanic *sunuz Proto-Germanic *suHnús Proto-Indo-European *sewH- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships

External links

# son

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /sʌn/
**IPA (UK):** /sʌn/
**Frequency rank:** 243

## Meanings
1. A person's male child.
2. A friendly way an older or senior person addresses a younger man or boy.
3. A man seen as a typical product of a particular place.

## Examples
- Their son became a famous judge.
- Son, can't you see that she's just a little girl?
- He is celebrated as a famous son of the city.

## Synonyms
- boy
- lad

## Antonyms
- daughter
- father
- mother
- parent

## Derived Forms
- bioson
- furson
- godson
- grandfather-father-son
- grandson
- sisterson
- son-in-law
- son-out-law
- sonfucker
- sonhead
- sonhood
- sonless

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sonn
- Root: sunu
- Root: *sunu
- Root: *sunuz
- Root: *suHnús
- Root: *sewH-

## Etymology
From Middle English sonn, sone, sun, sune, from Old English sunu (“son”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to bear; give birth”).

## AI Etymology
Son is from Middle English sonn, sone, sun, sune, from Old English sunu (“son”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to bear; give birth”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English sonn, Old English sunu, Proto-West Germanic *sunu, Proto-Germanic *sunuz, Proto-Indo-European *suHnús, Proto-Indo-European *sewH-. In current use it includes senses such as A person's male child and A friendly way an older or senior person addresses a younger man or boy.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships

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son