Etymology

Son of Man

Today it means: A Christian title of Jesus Christ, referring to his status as a celestial being who presides as an eschatological judge. Full definition →

Middle English Sone of man ← Old English mannes Sunu ← Ancient Greek υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
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The story

  1. Aramaic · derived fromבַּר אֱנָשׁ“bar ʾĕnāš”
  2. Ancient Greek · calque ofυἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
  3. Old English · derived frommannes Sunu
  4. Middle English · inherited fromSone of man
  5. English todaySon of Man

From Middle English Sone of man, sone of man (also Mannes sone, Monnes Sune, man sone, man sun, etc.), meaning "mortal man, human being; the Messiah, the Christ", a reanalysis of Old English mannes Sunu (literally “man's son”), equivalent to Son + of + Man. Calque of Ancient Greek υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (huiòs toû anthrṓpou), itself a calque of Aramaic בַּר אֱנָשׁ (human being, “bar ʾĕnāš”, literally “Son of man”), used in Daniel 7:13 for an apocalyptic figure.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.