son

¹

[ suhn ]

noun

1. a male child or person in relation to his parents.
2. a male child or person adopted as a son; a person in the legal position of a son.
3. any male descendant:

   a son of the Aztecs.

4. a son-in-law.
5. a person related as if by ties of sonship.
6. a male person looked upon as the product or result of particular agencies, forces, influences, etc.:

   a true son of the soil.

7. a familiar term of address to a man or boy from an older person, an ecclesiastic, etc.
8. the Son, the second person of the Trinity; Jesus Christ.

son-

²

1. variant of soni- before a vowel:

   sonance.

Son

¹

/ sʌn /

noun

1. Christianity the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ

son

²

/ sʌn /

noun

1. a male offspring; a boy or man in relation to his parents
2. a male descendant
3. often capital a familiar term of address for a boy or man
4. a male from a certain country, place, etc, or one closely connected with a certain environment

   a son of the circus

   a son of the manse

Derived Forms

• ˈsonless, adjective
• ˈsonˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• sonless adjective
• sonlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of son¹

before 900; Middle English sone, Old English sunu; cognate with Dutch zoon, German Sohn, Old Norse sunr, sonr, Gothic sunus, Lithuanian sūnùs, Sanskrit sūnus; akin to Greek huiós

Word History and Origins

Origin of son¹

Old English sunu; related to Old Norse sunr, Gothic sunus, Old High German sunu, Lithuanian sūnus, Sanskrit sūnu

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with son , also see favorite son ; like father, like son .

Example Sentences

Julia Jackson, Jacob Blake’s mother, said the “violence doesn’t reflect my son.”

From Vox

Socrates, a stonecutter’s son, felt most at home in the agora, or marketplace, of ancient Athens.

From Fortune

Her son was eventually sold to an American couple for ₤1,000.

From Washington Blade

Moving across the country for the year, “felt like the best option as my job would have suffered and my son would have suffered if we tried to stay in Los Angeles.”

From Digiday

He would try to have a family member installed, perhaps his son.

From Ozy

The use of slurs from both characters makes it clear just how “new” the idea of an openly gay son is even in this time.

From The Daily Beast

This is a guy who has his son-in-law clean his eyeglasses, for crying out loud.

From The Daily Beast

“They know there are drug spots,” said Wanda Williams, who was out for a walk with her son.

From The Daily Beast

This is about no longer accepting that—as so many others have stated—a family would rather have a dead son than a living daughter.

From The Daily Beast

Jennie kept his parliamentary vestments for her son, apparently instilling in Winston the sense that he would be a leader.

From The Daily Beast

Elyon is the name of an ancient Phœnician god, slain by his son El, no doubt the “first-born of death” in Job xviii.

From Project Gutenberg

My son,” said Grabantak one evening to Chingatok, “if we are henceforth to live in peace, why not unite and become one nation?

From Project Gutenberg

Twice a year the formal invitation was sent out by the old nobleman to his only son, and to his two nephews.

From Project Gutenberg

And Melchizedek is here declared to be “a great man,” “assimilated unto the Son of God.”

From Project Gutenberg

He had meted out stern justice to his own son, when he had banished big Reginald to South America; but he had his virtues.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boy
• child
• descendant
• kid
• offspring