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

Mr Webb, who has a nine-month-old son, raised the issue in his first adjournment debate as an MP.

From BBC

A mother said her two-year-old son was lucky to be alive after he was "horrifically" attacked by a pocket bully dog while trick or treating.

From BBC

"Those people must come out because we have brothers there, we have sons there, the fathers of our kids are there, our children are struggling," local resident Emily Photsoa told AFP.

From BBC

This time, he’s saying with his early picks, there will be no one second guessing the leader or, in the words of his son, thinking they “know better” than a man with the nuclear codes.

From Salon

She left her son in his care at about 08:45 GMT on 12 January, while she went to an optician's appointment.

From BBC

Related Words

• boy
• child
• descendant
• kid
• offspring