Etymograph

English

son

Son comes from Middle English sonn, from Old English sunu ‘son’, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz ‘son’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús ‘son’, from *sewH- ‘to bear, give birth’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sewH-1‘to bear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*suHnús1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunuz1reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sunu1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sunu1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sonn1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1671son1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English son
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “From what conſummate vertue I have choſe / This…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sewH-Wiktionary, English son‘to bear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*suHnúsWiktionary, English sonreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunuzWiktionary, English sonreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sunuWiktionary, English sonreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sunuWiktionary, English son
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sonnWiktionary, English son
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1671sonWiktionary, English son. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “From what conſummate vertue I have choſe / This…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with son, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *sewH- ‘to bear’

  • socket ← soket ← soc ← *soccus ← *sukkos
  • sock ← soc ← *soccus ← *sukkos ← *súH-s
  • sounder ← soundre ← soundre ← sunor ← *suniʀu

2 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of son

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sonen
  2. Englishtodayson

Another origin of son

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonus‘tone, character, style’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentson‘tone’literally ‘tone, sound’
  3. Englishtodayson

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Today it means

noun One's male offspring.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “son”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sewH- / son