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)
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

sun

The sun photographed by Skylab 4.

The star that the Earth revolves around and from which it receives light and warmth.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., 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. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
  '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 (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 865290061, 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 VVinters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:
  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 561215543, 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.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Psalm 74:11:
  For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
- 1649, Charles I of England (attributed), Eikon Basilike
  I will never consent to put out the sun of sovereignity to posterity.
(chiefly literary) Sunrise or sunset.
- 1609-11, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act III, Scene 2:
  Imogen: […] Pr'ythee, speak, / How many score of miles may we well ride / 'Twixt hour and hour / Pisanio: One score, 'twixt sun and sun, / Madam, 's enough for you; and too much too. / Imogen: Why, one that rode to his execution, man, / Could never go so slow.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970:
  [W]hilst many an hunger-starved poor 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 pain and grief, is in great distress 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 1167497017:
  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

midnight sun
sunangel
sunbath
sunbathe
sunbeam
sunbed
sunbelt
sunberry
sunbird
sunbittern
sunbleak
sun-blind
sunblind
sunblock
sun block
sunburn
sunburst
sunchoke
suncream
suncup
sundae
Sundance
sundance
sun dance
Sunday
Sundayfied
sundeck
sundew
sundial
sundog
sundown
sunfish
sunflower
sun-frock
sunglass
sunglasses
sungod
sungrebe
sunhat
sunhood
sun kink
sunlamp
sunless
sunlight
Sun-like
sun-like
sunlike
sunlit
sunly
sunnish
sunny
sunporch
sunray
sunrise
sunroof
sunroom
sunroot
sunrose
sunscald
sunscreen
sunseeker
sunset
sunshade
sunshine
Sunshine
sunspot
sunstar
sunstead
sunstone
sunstrike
sunstroke
suntan
suntiger
suntrap
sunup
sunview
sunwatcher
Sunwing
sunwise
Whitsun, Whitsunday

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 222716698:
  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.

Hypernyms

bask

Derived terms

sun up

Translations

See sun/translations § Verb.

Etymology 2

From Japanese 寸 (sun). Doublet of cun.

Noun

sun (plural sun)

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

Noun

sun (uncountable)

Alternative form of sunn (“the plant”)

Anagrams

'uns, NUS, UNS, USN, uns

Bambara

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 [Our Words], 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): [ˈsun]

Noun

sun m inan

slide

Declension

Declension of sun

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

Related terms

sunout
násun
odsun
podsun
posun
přesun
přísun
sesun
výsun
zásun

Finnish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsun/, [ˈs̠un]
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

From the standard language form sinun (“your, yours”).

Pronoun

sun

(colloquial) genitive of sä

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin sonus.

Noun

sun m (plural suns)

sound
music

Synonyms

(music): musiche

Related terms

sunâ

Inari Sami

Etymology

From Proto-Samic *sonë.

Pronoun

sun

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): [ˈsʊn]
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.[1]

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

English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle English

Noun

sun

Alternative form of sonne (“sun”)

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

Min Nan

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

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

sunbeenk
sunbonk
sunglees
sunig
sunkast
sunkurn
sunkuuk
sunküül
sunpapiar
sunrag
sunseek
sunskol
sunstoof
sunstrun
suntoort
sunwaal
sunwai

Okinawan

Verb

sun

romanized 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

1791, Thomas Jefferson, A vocabulary of the Language of the Unquachog Indians

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsun/
Rhymes: -un

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)

(archaic) sound

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

Synonyms

sunet

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

sunblink
sundoun
sunlicht
sunsheen

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [sun˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂun˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂʊwŋ͡m˧˧] ~ [sʊwŋ͡m˧˧]

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)

Yoruba

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̀/

Verb

sùn

to sleep
Mo sùn gbalaja ― I slept stretched out

Derived terms

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

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sũ̄/

Verb

sun

to trickle; to flow

Derived terms

orísun (“source”)

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

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

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”)

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”)

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.

sun

Translingual

Symbol

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Proper noun

Usage notes

Translations

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

Noun

Further reading

Anagrams

Bambara

Noun

Usage notes

Etymology 2

Noun

Noun

Bavarian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

References

Cimbrian

Noun

References

Czech

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

Finnish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Conjunction

Etymology 2

Pronoun

Friulian

Etymology

Noun

Synonyms

Related terms

Inari Sami

Etymology

Pronoun

See also

Further reading

Indonesian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

Javanese

Noun

Kaingang

Pronunciation

Verb

References

Ladin

Preposition

Verb

Manchu

Romanization

Mandarin

Romanization

Usage notes