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. 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

Son

²

/ sʌn /

noun

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

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

Jo says her son is now thriving, and she is optimistic about his transition to secondary school next year.

From BBC

Jacob’s school had put in place one-to-one support and access to a speech and language therapist, but Jo says there was no suitable space at the school for her son to decompress.

From BBC

Jo’s 10-year-old son Jacob was suspended from his primary school several times, before recently getting permanently excluded for persistent disruptive behaviour.

From BBC

Jo says her son is a “very caring boy” who loves rugby and gaming, but his sensory issues meant he struggled to cope with larger class sizes.

From BBC

Lydia says her six-year-old son, Eddie, has been suspended from primary school 14 times since January.

From BBC

Related Words

• boy
• child
• descendant
• kid
• offspring