sou

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French sou. Doublet of solidus and soldo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suː/
• Homophone: sue

Noun

sou (plural sous)

1. (historical) An old French copper coin equal to one twentieth of a livre or twelve deniers; one sou is to the livre as one shilling is to the pound.
   • 1918 February (date written), Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Je ne parle pas français”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 73:

     He is grey, flat-footed and withered, with long, brittle nails that set your nerves on edge while he scrapes up your two sous.

2. (dated, slang) Cent; pocket money.
3. (dated) A thing of the smallest value; a whit; a jot.

   I do not care a sou for your excuses.

Anagrams

• -ous, OSU, USO, ous

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sœu/

Verb

sou

1. preterite of sal; would, should

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan sou~sol, from Late Latin soldus, contraction of Latin solĭdus. Doublet of sòlid. Compare French sou.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)
• Rhymes: -ɔw

Noun

sou m (plural sous)

1. salary, wage

   Synonym: salari

   tinc un sou de 1200 euros ― I have a salary of 1200 euros

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)
• Rhymes: -ow

Verb

sou

1. second-person plural present indicative of ser
2. second-person plural present indicative of ésser

Etymology 3

Inherited from Old Catalan sou (feminine sua), from Latin suum, from Proto-Italic *sowos, from Proto-Indo-European *sewos, from *swé (“self”).

Alternative forms

• seu (non-Algherese dialects)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)
• Rhymes: -ow

Pronoun

sou (feminine sua, masculine plural sous, feminine plural sues)

1. (Alghero) your, yours (singular, alluding to vostè)
2. (Alghero) his, her/hers, its
3. (Alghero, archaic, rare) their, theirs

Usage notes

• In contemporary Algherese, this word primarily gives reference to vostè. Only rarely does it give reference to multiple possessors, this use being archaic.

Descendants

• Catalan: seu
• Sicilian: sou, sua, soi, so'

See also

• son

References

• “sou (2)”, in Diccionari d'Alguerés, 2022 May 17 (last accessed)
• El Català de l'Alguer : un model d'àmbit restringit, Barcelona, 2003, →ISBN, page 30

Further reading

• “sou” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Folopa

Noun

sou

1. Alternative form of so

References

• Karl James Franklin, Pacific Linguistics (1973, →ISBN, page 130: Polopa so/sou woman, cf. DAR sou female animal but we woman.
• Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 15: Boro, Suri, Tebera sou, Sopese šo

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, inherited from Late Latin soldus, from Latin solidus. Doublet of solide. See also the form sol, which kept the historical spelling from Old French, even if it came to be pronounced like sou.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su/

  • Audio

    (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Homophones: sous, saoul, saouls (and their alternative spellings)

Noun

sou m (plural sous)

1. (historical, numismatics) sou (old French coin)
2. (by extension, chiefly in the plural, colloquial) money; cash

   Tu peux me prêter des sous ? ― Can you lend me some cash?

3. (Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial) cent (one hundredth of a dollar)

   Ça va être six piastres et vingt-cinq sous, s’il te plaît. ― That'll be six dollars and twenty-five cents, please.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → English: sou
• Louisiana Creole: sou

See also

• chelin
• livre

Further reading

• “sou”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Verb

sou

1. (reintegrationist norm) first-person singular present indicative of ser

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su/

Preposition

sou

1. on
2. about, concerning
   • 2019 March 19, “Rankont ann Itali ant Anvwaye Espesyal Etazini ak Larisi sou Kriz Venezuela a”, in Lavwadlamerik‎:

     Anvwaye espesyal Etazini pou Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, ak vis-minis afè etranjè Larisi, Sergei Ryabkov, ap fè reyinyon nan vil Wòm ann Itali pou yo pale sou sityasyon Venezuela kap agrave.”

     American Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliot Abrams and Russian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov are meeting in the city of Rome, Italy to talk about "the worsening situation in Venezuela."

Iu Mien

Etymology

From Chinese 書 (MC syo). Compare Bu-Nao Bunu hswb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səu˧/

Noun

sou 

1. book

Japanese

Romanization

sou

1. Rōmaji transcription of そう

Leonese

Etymology

From Latin sum.

Verb

sou

1. first-person singular present indicative of sere

Lindu

Noun

sou

1. house; home

Livonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *savu, from Proto-Finno-Permic *sawe. Cognates include Finnish savu.

Noun

sou

1. smoke

Louisiana Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su/
• Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

Inherited from French saoul (“drunk”).

Adjective

sou

1. drunk

   Synonyms: chak, ho, piké

Etymology 2

Inherited from French sou (“sou, cent”).

Noun

sou

1. (money) (a) cent

   Synonym: pinné

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zəʊ/ (basic form)
• IPA^(key): /zu/ (reduced)
• Rhymes: -əʊ

Adverb

sou

1. Alternative form of esou

Mandarin

Romanization

sou (sou⁵／sou⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄙㄡ)

1. Nonstandard spelling of sōu.
2. Nonstandard spelling of sǒu.
3. Nonstandard spelling of sòu.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mirandese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈso(w)/

Verb

sou

1. first-person singular present of ser

Old Catalan

Etymology

From Latin suum.

Adjective

sou (feminine sua, masculine plural sous, feminine plural sues)

1. his, her, its, their

   Synonym: son

Descendants

• Catalan: seu

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• sô (Brazil, nonstandard)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sum (“I am”). Cognate with Galician son, Spanish soy, Italian sono, French suis, and Romanian sunt.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ow, -o
• Hyphenation: sou

Verb

sou

1. first-person singular present indicative of ser
   • 2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows] (Harry Potter; 7), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 589:

     Sou excepcionalmente famoso.

     I am exceptionally famous.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sou.

Noun

sou n (plural souuri)

1. (coin) sou

Declension

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• suu
• suo

Etymology

From Latin suus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsou/

Pronoun

sou (plural suos, feminine sua, feminine plural suas)

1. his, her, hers

Related terms

• meu
• tuu/tou/tuo
• nostru
• bostru/vostru
• issoro

Sassarese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsou/

Determiner

sou (feminine singular soa, plural soi)

1. Alternative form of sóiu

Pronoun

sou m (feminine singular soa, masculine and feminine plural soi)

1. Alternative form of sóiu

References

• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈso.u/

Noun

sou

1. medicine

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

West Makian

Etymology

Likely cognate with Ternate sou (“medicine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈs̪o.u/

Noun

sou

1. magic, sorcery

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics (as sow)

Zhuang

Etymology

From Proto-Southwestern Tai *suːᴬ (“you (plural)”) (whence Thai สู (sǔu), Northern Thai ᩈᩪ, Isan สู, Lao ສູ (sū), Lü ᦉᦴ (ṡuu), Tai Dam ꪎꪴ, Shan သူ (sǔu), Tai Nüa ᥔᥧᥴ (sú), Ahom 𑜏𑜥 (sū)).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θou˨˦/
• Tone numbers: sou¹
• Hyphenation: sou

Pronoun

sou (Sawndip forms 𠈅 or 修 or 收 or 苏 or 唆 or 数 or 𠉑 or 叟 or 傃, 1957–1982 spelling sou)

1. you (plural)

See also