Etymology

son

S1O1N1

Today it means: One's male offspring. Full definition →

Middle English sonn ← Old English sunu ← Proto-West Germanic *sunu
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son · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sewH-“to bear; give birth”
  2. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*suHnús“son”
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sunuz“son”
  4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sunu
  5. Old English · inherited fromsunu“son”
  6. Middle English · inherited fromsonn
  7. English todayson

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”).

son · verb2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromsonen
  2. English todayson

From Middle English sonen, sunen, from the noun (see above).

son · noun3

  1. Spanish · borrowed fromson
  2. English todayson

From Spanish son (literally “tone, sound”).

Son · proper noun4

From son (“male offspring”).

Son · proper noun5

  1. Khmer · derived fromសឺន
  2. Khmer · derived fromស៊ន
  3. Korean · derived from손
  4. English todaySon

As a surname, from: *Korean 손 (son) *Khmer ស៊ន (sɔɔn) or Khmer សឺន (səɨn)

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*sewH- all →

sounder

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.