Etymology

sonny

S1O1N1N1Y4

Today it means: A familiar form of address for a boy. Full definition →

First used 1833English son ← Middle English sone ← Old English sunu
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sew-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sewH-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*suHnús
  4. Proto-Germanic*sunuz
  5. Proto-West Germanic*sunu
  6. Old Englishsunu
  7. Middle Englishsone
  8. Englishson
  9. English todaysonny

From son + -y.

First known use, by meaning

  • 1833 A familiar form of address for a boy.
  • 1852 Form of address to a boy or man, to express contempt, warning etc.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.