Definition of 'son'
Word forms: sons
1. countable noun
Someone's son is their male child.
2. countable noun
3. vocative noun
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
son
Word Frequency
son in American English
noun
1.
a boy or man as he is related to either or both parents
sometimes also used of animals2.
a male descendant
4.
sons of France
5.
an affectionate or familiar form of address to a boy or man, as used by an older person
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME sone < OE sunu, akin to Ger sohn, Goth sunus < IE *sūnus < base *seu-, to give birth to > Sans sūyatē, (she) bears, OIr suth, birth
Word Frequency
son in American English
(sʌn)
noun
1.
a male child or person in relation to his parents
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 true son of the soil
7.
a familiar term of address to a man or boy from an older person, an ecclesiastic, etc
8. See the Son
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
sonless adjective
sonlike
adjective
Word origin
[bef. 900; ME sone, OE sunu; c. D zoon, G Sohn, ON sunr, sonr, Goth sunus, Lith sūnùs, Skt sūnus; akin to Gk huiós]Word Frequency
son- in American English
combining form
var. (before a vowel) of soni-
sonance
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word Frequency
son in British English
▶ Related adjective: filial
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
sonless (ˈsonless) adjective
sonlike (ˈsonˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
Old English sunu; related to Old Norse sunr, Gothic sunus, Old High German sunu, Lithuanian sūnus, Sanskrit sūnuExamples of 'son' in a sentence
son
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
Quotations
Like father like son
Trends of
son
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In other languages
son
- American English: son /ˈsʌn/
- Arabic: اِبْن
- Brazilian Portuguese: filho
- Chinese: 儿子
- Croatian: sin
- Czech: syn
- Danish: søn
- Dutch: zoon
- European Spanish: hijo
- Finnish: poika jonkun lapsi
- French: fils
- German: Sohn
- Greek: γιος
- Italian: figlio
- Japanese: 息子
- Korean: 아들
- Norwegian: sønn
- Polish: syn
- European Portuguese: filho
- Romanian: fiu
- Russian: сын
- Spanish: hijo
- Swedish: son
- Thai: ลูกชาย
- Turkish: oğul
- Ukrainian: син
- Vietnamese: con trai con đẻ
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son
Related terms of
son
Source
Definition of son from the Collins English Dictionary
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