sun

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sun"

Translingual

Symbol

sun

(international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Sundanese.

English

Pronunciation

enPR: sŭn, IPA^(key): /sʌn/
Audio (UK) (file)
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ʌn
Homophone: son

Etymology 1

From Middle English sonne, sunne, from Old English sunne, from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ, from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen-, oblique of Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”).

See also Saterland Frisian Sunne, West Frisian sinne, German Low German Sünn, Dutch zon, German Sonne, Icelandic sunna; outside of Germanic, Welsh huan, Sanskrit स्वर् (svar), Avestan 𐬓𐬇𐬧𐬔 (xᵛə̄ṇg)).

Related to sol, Sol, Surya, and Helios. More at solar.

Alternative forms

(proper noun, star which the Earth revolves around): Sun (capitalized)
sonne, sunne (obsolete spelling)

Proper noun

the sun

The star that the Earth revolves around and from which it receives light and warmth.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 233:
  "I suppose I may have leave to do that!" Yes, she could do that, he said, but there was no road to that place; it lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and she could never find her way there.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
  'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.

Usage notes

While the sun by tradition is typically regarded as masculine, the noun itself was originally feminine in grammatical gender.

Translations

See sun/translations § Proper noun.

Noun

sun (countable and uncountable, plural suns)

(astronomy) A star, especially when seen as the centre of any single solar system.
- 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Haestrom Codex entry:
  Because Haestrom's sun has overwhelmed the planet's protective magnetosphere, humans foolhardy enough to venture into geth-controlled Haestrom must exercise extreme caution. Minutes of radiation exposure will overload shields and hours of exposure will kill.
The light and warmth which is received from the sun; sunshine or sunlight.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
  Lambs that did frisk in the sun.
- 1835, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Knight of Provençe, and His Proposal”, in Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. , volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, , →OCLC, book II (The Revolution), page 184:
  His fair hair waved long and freely over a white and unwrinkled forehead: the life of a camp and the suns of Italy had but little embrowned his clear and healthful complexion, which retained much of the bloom of youth.
(figurative) Something like the sun in brightness or splendor.
- 1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Psalmes 84:11, folio 253, recto, column 2:
  For the Lord God is the ſunne & ſhield vnto vs: […]
- 1649 February 19 (Gregorian calendar), attributed to Charles I of England, “Upon their seizing the Kings Magazines, Forts, Navy, and Militia”, in Έἰκὼν Βασιλική . The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Maiestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings: , Roger Daniel for John Williams], →OCLC, page 65:
  […] I will never conſent to put out the Sun of Sovereigntie to all Poſterity, […]
(uncountable, chiefly literary) Sunrise or sunset.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 381, columns 1–2:
  Imo[gen]. […] Prythee ſpeake, / How many ſtore of Miles may we well rid / Twixt houre, and houre? / Piſ[anio]. One ſcore 'twixt Sun, and Sun, / Madam's enough for you: and too much too. / Imo[gen]. Why, one that rode to's Excution Man, / Could neuer go ſo ſlow: […]
- 1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Discontents, Cares, Miseries, &c. causes”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. , 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 2, member 3, subsection 10, page 110:
  [W]hileſt many an hunger-ſtarved poore creature pines in the ſtreet, wants clothes to cover him, labours hard all day long, runs, rides for a trifle, fights peradventure from Sun to Sun, ſick and ill, weary, full of paine and griefe, is in great diſtreſſe and ſorrow of heart.
- 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, published 1873, page 357:
  I love these sons of earth every mother's son of them, with their great hearty hearts rushing tumultuously in herds from spectacle to spectacle, as if fearful lest there should not be time between sun and sun to see them all, and the sun does not wait more than in haying-time.
- 1962, Harry S. Truman, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, page 651:
  You see, the President has five jobs, any one of which would be more than a full-time job for one man; but I have to do all five of them between sun and sun.
- 1997, Alan Dean Foster, Howling Stones, page 149:
  “Tomorrow at first sun.” Not being much of a morning person, she winced internally. “First sun?” “It is the proper time, when the flowers of the pohoroh first open to the light.”
A revolution of the Earth around the Sun; a year.
A transversing of the sky by the Sun; a day.
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
  Four suns since was the word brought to me from ‘She-who-must-be-obeyed,’ ‘White men come; if white men come, slay them not.’ Let them be brought to the house of ‘She-who-must-be-obeyed.’
The nineteenth trump/major arcana card of the Tarot.
(cartomancy) The thirty-first Lenormand card.

Derived terms

Translations

See sun/translations § Noun.

Verb

sun (third-person singular simple present suns, present participle sunning, simple past and past participle sunned)

(transitive) To expose to the warmth and radiation of the sun.
Synonym: apricate

Beautiful bodies lying on the beach, sunning their bronzed limbs.
- 2000, William Laurance, Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles: Confessions of a Rainforest Biologist:
  There were lots of zany antics and we tried not to stare too obviously at the beautiful women toplessly sunning themselves...
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
  Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines. A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.
(transitive) To warm or dry in the sunshine.
(intransitive) To be exposed to the sun.
(intransitive, alternative medicine) To expose the eyes to the sun as part of the Bates method.

Noun

sun (plural suns or sun)

A traditional Japanese unit of length, approximately 30.3 millimetres (1.193 inches).

Etymology 3

Noun

sun (uncountable)

Alternative form of sunn (“the plant”)

Anagrams

'uns, NUS, UNS, USN, uns

Bambara

Etymology 1

Noun

sun

trunk (of tree)

Usage notes

Often used in a compound with the name of a tree to indicate that kind of tree.

Etymology 2

From Arabic صَوْم (ṣawm, “fasting; abstaining from food, drink, and sex”), from Classical Syriac ܨܘܡܐ (ṣawmāʾ).

Noun

sun

fasting (during the month of Ramadan)

Noun

sun

to fast

Bavarian

Alternative forms

sunn, suun

Etymology

From Middle High German sun, from Old High German sunu, from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”). Cognate with German Sohn, Dutch zoon, English son, Icelandic sonur.

Noun

sun

(Sauris) son

References

Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter , Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Cimbrian

Noun

sun m

(Tredici Comuni) son

References

Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Czech

Etymology

Deverbal from sunout.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):

Noun

sun m inan

slide

Declension

Declension of sun (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	sun	suny
genitive	sunu	sunů
dative	sunu	sunům
accusative	sun	suny
vocative	sune	suny
locative	sunu	sunech
instrumental	sunem	suny

Related terms

Finnish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsun/,
Rhymes: -un
Syllabification^(key): sun

Etymology 1

Possibly from etymology 2, originally as a replacement of mun, eroded variant of muin which was reinterpreted as the genitive singular of mä.

Conjunction

sun

(coordinating) A coordinating conjunction expressing generality.
En nyt jouda, kun tässä on sitä sun tätä tekemistä.
I don't have time for that because I have this and that to do (miscellaneous stuff/things to do).

Lautanen oli täynnä makaroonilaatikkoa, makkaraa, salaattia, perunamuussia sun muuta pöperöä.
The plate was full of macaroni casserole, sausage, salad, mashed potatoes and other grub.

Etymology 2

Compare standard sinun (“your, yours”) (genitive singular of sinä).

Pronoun

sun

(colloquial) genitive of sä

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin sonus.

Noun

sun m (plural suns)

sound
music

Synonyms

(music): musiche

Related terms

sunâ

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of sun – see 孫 (“grandchild; grandson; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 孫).

Inari Sami

Etymology

From Proto-Samic *sonë.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Pronoun

sun (genitive suu)

he, she, it

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch zoen (“kiss”), from Middle Dutch zoene, soen, soene, swoene (“reconciliation; atonement; kiss”), from Old Dutch *sōna, *swōna (“reconciliation; peace; agreement”), from Proto-Germanic *sōnō, *swōnō (“appeasement; reconciliation; atonement; sacrifice”), from Proto-Indo-European *swā-n- (“healthy; whole; active; vigorous”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):
Hyphenation: sun

Noun

sun (first-person possessive sunku, second-person possessive sunmu, third-person possessive sunnya)

kiss, a touch with the lips, usually to express love or affection, or as a greeting.
Synonym: ciuman

Derived terms

mengesun

Javanese

Noun

sun

a kiss

Kaingang

FWOTD – 12 May 2013

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈʃudn/

Verb

sun

To warm oneself by staying near a fire.

References

^ “sun” in Editora Esperança, Dicionário Kaingang-Português Português-Kaingang, Ursula Gojtéj Wiesemann, 2nd edition, 2011, page 83.

Ladin

Preposition

sun

on, over
in

Verb

sun

Alternative form of son

Manchu

Romanization

sun

Romanization of ᠰᡠᠨ

Mandarin

Romanization

sun

Nonstandard spelling of sūn.
Nonstandard spelling of sǔn.
Nonstandard spelling of sùn.

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.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

sun

Alternative form of sonne (“sun”)

Etymology 2

Noun

sun

Alternative form of sone (“son”)

Mimi of Nachtigal

Etymology

Similar to (and likely a borrowing of, or possibly the lender of) the word used for water in the "third Mimi" language, Amdang sunu, which in turn is (per Starostin) "most likely cognate with Fur suːn ‘waterhole, well’".

Noun

sun

water

References

George Starostin, On Mimi

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian sand, from Proto-Germanic *samdaz. Cognates include West Frisian sân.

Noun

sun n (plural sun)

(Föhr-Amrum) sand

Derived terms

Okinawan

Verb

sun

Rōmaji transcription of すん

Old Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse sonr, sunr, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz.

Noun

sun m (nominative plural synær)

son

Descendants

Danish: søn

Quiripi

Noun

sun

(Unquachog) stone

References

Thomas Jefferson (1791) A vocabulary of the Language of the Unquachog Indians (in Quiripi)

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsun/
Rhymes: -un

Etymology 1

Verb

sun

first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of suna

Etymology 2

Probably from Latin sonus, or from the verb suna.

Noun

sun n (plural sunuri)

(obsolete) sound
Synonym: sunet

Declension

Declension of sun

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) sun	sunul	(niște) sunuri	sunurile
genitive/dative	(unui) sun	sunului	(unor) sunuri	sunurilor
vocative	sunule		sunurilor

References

sun in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Scots

Etymology

From Old English sunne, from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ, from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen- (“sun”), oblique stem *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sʌn/, /sɪn/

Noun

sun (plural suns)

sun

Derived terms

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
(Huế) IPA^(key): ~
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): ~

Verb

sun

(intransitive) To shrink.
(transitive) To pull together.
sun vai
to pull one’s shoulders together

References

"sun" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

Waigali

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *sónna (whence Ashkun són, Kamkata-viri sún, Prasuni sü, sun, Tregami sṓn), a borrowing from Middle Indo-Aryan *sonna, from Sanskrit सुवर्ण (suvárṇa).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sún/

Noun

sun

gold

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

hùn (Ikalẹ)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̀/

Verb

sùn

to sleep
Mo sùn gbalaja ― I slept stretched out

Derived terms

ibùsùn (“bed”)
kòríkòsùn (“close friend”)
másùnmáwo (“stress”)
sísùn (“sleeping”)
àsùngbádùn (“good night's sleep”)
àsùnwọra (“deep sleep”)
àìróorunsùn (“insomnia”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̄/

Verb

sun

to roast
Synonyms: yan, wì (“to singe”)

Mo sun ẹran. ― I roasted the meat.
to burn; to set on fire
Synonyms: jó, jóná, dáná sun

A máa ń sun òkú nínú àṣà tèmi. ― We cremate the dead in my culture.

Àwọn jagunjagun ya wọ̀lú, wọ́n sì dáná sun ojúbọ ― The warriors raided the town and set the shrines on fire

Derived terms

dáná sun
sísun (“burning”)
ìdánásungbó (“arson; slash and burn”)
ìdánásunlé (“arson”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̄/

Verb

sun

to trickle; to flow

Derived terms

orísun (“source”)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̄/

Verb

sun

(with ẹkún (“tears”)) to cry
Wọ́n ń sun ẹkún níbi ìsìnkú ― They're crying at the burial ground
to chant
Ọdẹ ni ó máa ń sun ìjálá, ìyàwó ni ó máa ń sun ẹkún-ìyàwó ― Hunters chant ìjálá, and brides chant the ẹkún-ìyàwó

Derived terms

sunkún (“to cry”)
sísun (“chanting; crying”)

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̀/

Verb

sùn

to aim; to target
Ìyẹn ni mò ń fojú sùn lọ́dún tó ń bọ̀ ― That's what I aspire for this coming year

Derived terms

àfojúsùn (“goal; target”)

Etymology 6

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sṹ/

Verb

sún

to shift; to move
Sún mọ́ mi. ― Move closer to me.

Pẹ̀lúmi fẹ́ sún ìpàdé síwájú ― Pelumi wants to postpone the meeting
to nudge; to motivate
Ó sún mi láti wọ́de ― It motivated me to protest
to prick
Synonym: gún

Ẹ̀gún sún mi lọ́wọ́ ― The thorn pricked me

Derived terms

sún kì (“to contract; to shrink”)

Etymology 7

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̀/

Verb

sùn

to make a complaint
A ti fẹjọ́ yín sùn wọ́n ― We have reported you to them

[1] “sun” in Editora Esperança, Dicionário Kaingang-Português Português-Kaingang, Ursula Gojtéj Wiesemann, 2nd edition, 2011, page 83.

Inari Sami personal pronouns
	singular	dual	plural
1st person	mun	muoi	mij
2nd person	tun	tuoi	tij
3rd person	sun	suoi	sij