sun

[suhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sun ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

(often initial capital letter) the star that is the central body of the solar system, around which the planets revolve and from which they receive light and heat: its mean distance from the earth is about 93 million miles (150 million km), its diameter about 864,000 miles (1.4 million km), and its mass about 330,000 times that of the earth; its period of surface rotation is about 26 days at its equator but longer at higher latitudes.

the sun considered with reference to its position in the sky, its visibility, the season of the year, the time at which or the place where it is seen, etc.

a self-luminous heavenly body; star.

sunshine; the heat and light from the sun: to be exposed to the sun.

a figure or representation of the sun, as a heraldic bearing usually surrounded with rays and marked with the features of a human face.

something likened to the sun in brightness, splendor, etc.

Chiefly Literary.

clime; climate.
glory; splendor.

sunrise or sunset: They traveled hard from sun to sun.

Archaic.

a day.
a year.

verb (used with object), sunned, sun·ning.

to expose to the sun's rays.

to warm, dry, etc., in the sunshine.

to put, bring, make, etc., by exposure to the sun.

verb (used without object), sunned, sun·ning.

to be exposed to the rays of the sun: to sun in the yard.

Idioms

against the sun, Nautical. counterclockwise.

place in the sun, a favorable or advantageous position; prominence; recognition: The new generation of writers has achieved a place in the sun.

under the sun, on earth; anywhere: the most beautiful city under the sun.

with the sun, Nautical. clockwise.

Origin of sun

before 900; Middle English sun, sonne, Old English sunne; cognate with German Sonne, Old Norse sunna, Gothic sunno; akin to Old Norse sōl, Gothic sauil, Latin sōl (see solar¹), Greek hḗlios (see helio-), Welsh haul, Lithuanian saũlė, Polish słońce

Related formssun·like, adjective

Sun.

or Sund

Sunday.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sun

star, sunlight, shine, flare, daylight, tan, bask, sunrise, sol, aubade

Examples from the Web for sun

Contemporary Examples of sun

They will do it,” Revels declared, “as certainly as the sun shines in the heavens.
The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate
Philip Dray
January 7, 2015
The nanas and poppies and grannies and grampses who flocked there to roast in the sun.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’
Asawin Suebsaeng
January 7, 2015
He likes when the sun glances off it from the top, because it looks like the black marlin.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile
Robert Ward
January 3, 2015
She had to break the news to William that The Sun had the story.
Pulled Documentary Says William Felt ‘Used’ by Charles’ Push for Camilla
Tom Sykes
December 30, 2014
As the sun set on Monday and the search was called off for the day, there had been no positive update on the possible wreckage.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370
Lennox Samuels
December 29, 2014

Historical Examples of sun

We always think the sun drops down away from us, but it stays still.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
By meridian altitudes of sun, Lyrae (Vega), 32 degrees 15 minutes.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
"I ordered the sun turned on at just this point," replied her husband, with a large air.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
When the sun arose in the morning he did not say "Behold another day."
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
By meridian altitude of sun, camp is in latitude 31 degrees 53 minutes South.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest

British Dictionary definitions for sun

sun

noun

the star at the centre of our solar system. It is a gaseous body having a highly compressed core, in which energy is generated by thermonuclear reactions (at about 15 million kelvins), surrounded by less dense radiative and convective zones serving to transport the energy to the surface (the photosphere). The atmospheric layers (the chromosphere and corona) are normally invisible except during a total eclipse. Mass and diameter: 333 000 and 109 times that of earth respectively; mean distance from earth: 149.6 million km (1 astronomical unit)Related adjective: solar

any star around which a planetary system revolves

the sun as it appears at a particular time or placethe winter sun

the radiant energy, esp heat and light, received from the sun; sunshine

a person or thing considered as a source of radiant warmth, glory, etc

a pictorial representation of the sun, often depicted with a human face

poetic a year or a day

poetic a climate

archaic sunrise or sunset (esp in the phrase from sun to sun)

catch the sun to become slightly sunburnt

place in the sun a prominent or favourable position

shoot the sun or take the sun nautical to measure the altitude of the sun in order to determine latitude

touch of the sun slight sunstroke

under the sun or beneath the sun on earth; at allnobody under the sun eats more than you do

verb suns, sunning or sunned

to expose (oneself) to the sunshine

(tr) to expose to the sunshine in order to warm, tan, etc

Derived Formssunlike, adjective

Word Origin for sun

Old English sunne; related to Old High German sunna, Old Frisian senne, Gothic sunno

Sun.

abbreviation for

Sunday

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sun

Old English sunne, from Proto-Germanic *sunnon (cf. Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old High German sunna, Middle Dutch sonne, Dutch zon, German Sonne, Gothic sunno), from PIE *s(u)wen- (cf. Avestan xueng "sun," Old Irish fur-sunnud "lighting up"), alternative form of root *saewel- "to shine, sun" (see Sol).

Old English sunne was fem., and the fem. pronoun was used until 16c.; since then masc. has prevailed. The empire on which the sun never sets (1630) originally was the Spanish, later the British. To have one's place in the sun (1680s) is from Pascal's "Pensées"; the German imperial foreign policy sense (1897) is from a speech by von Bülow.

1510s, "to set something in the sun," from sun (n.). Meaning "to expose oneself to the sun" is recorded from c.1600. Sun-bathing is attested from c.1600.

sun in Science

sun

[sŭn]

Often Sun. A medium-sized, main-sequence star located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, orbited by all of the planets and other bodies in our solar system and supplying the heat and light that sustain life on Earth. Its diameter is approximately 1,392,000 million km (865,000 mi), and its mass, about 330,000 times that of Earth, comprises more than 99 percent of the matter in the solar system. It has a temperature of some 5.7 million degrees C (28.3 million degrees F) at its core, where nuclear fusion produces tremendous amounts of energy, mainly through the series of reactions known as the proton-proton chain. The energy generated in the core radiates through a radiation zone to an opaque convection zone, where it rises to the surface through convection currents of the Sun's plasma. The Sun's surface temperature (at its photosphere) is approximately 6,200 degrees C (11,200 degrees F). Turbulent surface phenomena analogous to the Earth's weather are prevalent, including magnetic storms, sunspots, and solar flares. The Sun was formed along with the rest of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago and is expected to run out of its current hydrogen fuel in another 5 billion years, at which point it will develop into a red giant and ultimately into a white dwarf. See Table at solar system. See Note at dwarf star.

sun in Culture

sun

The star around which the Earth revolves.

Note

The sun is about 4.5 billion years old and is expected to remain in its present state for approximately another six billion years; it will eventually evolve into a white dwarf.

Idioms and Phrases with sun

sun

In addition to the idiom beginning with sun

sun belt
sunny side

also see:

everything but the kitchen sink (under the sun)
make hay while the sun shines
nothing new under the sun
place in the sun