under the sun

prepositional phrase

In existence.

“Meronym: sublunary”

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticIn existence.

    Meronym: sublunary

    5 more examples

    I returned, and saw vnder the Sunne, That the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of vnderstanding, nor yet fauour to men of skil; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 9:11

    She argued boldly with me, on every subject under the sun, law and politics included; and, when I got the better of her, never hesitated to stop me by putting her hand on my lips, or by dragging me out into the garden in the middle of a sentence.

    1859, Wilkie Collins, The Queen of Hearts

    He was a most likeable and generous man, a Whitworth Scholar, and possessed of a fund of knowledge which seemed to cover every subject under the sun.

    1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 14

    I have also adopted a stance, familiar from consumer culture, which suggests that the goods under question can do anything under the sun.

    2005, Hazel Smith, The writing experiment: strategies for innovative creative writing

    Despite winning every award under the sun and being critically acclaimed + beloved, Schitt's Creek didn't become household-name-levels of popular until its last few seasons.

    2024 September 16, Mehera Bonner, “Wondering What Dan Levy Is Making for Hosting the 2024 Emmys? Here's a Deep Dive on His Net Worth!”, in Cosmopolitan

Origin

  1. Hebrewתַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ
  2. Middle Englishunder þe sonne
  3. Englishunder the sun

From Middle English under þe sonne, under þe sunne (compare Old English under sunnan), a calque of Hebrew תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ (táchat hashémesh). The phrase has been associated with the book of Ecclesiastes ever since appearing 29 times in the translation to English by John Wycliffe https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Under+the+sun&version=WYC

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto sub la suno
  • sub la sunoin existence
Finnish auringon alla, päällä maan
  • auringon allain existence
  • päällä maanin existence
French sous le soleil
  • sous le soleilin existence
German auf Erden
  • auf Erdenin existence
Japanese 日の下
  • 日の下 (hi no shita)in existence
Romanian sub soare, pe sub soare
  • sub soarein existence
  • pe sub soarein existence
Russian в мире, на земле
  • в миреin existence
  • на земле (na zemle)in existence
  • на свете (na svete)in existence
Spanish habido y por haber
  • habido y por haberin existence
Vietnamese trên đời
  • trên đờiin existence
Cite this entry
APA

under the sun. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20sun

MLA

“under the sun.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20sun. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “under the sun,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20sun.

Source: under the sun on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.