sun.
The star that is closest to the Earth.
Meaning & usage
The star that is closest to the Earth.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥der. Proto-Germanic *sunnô Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ Proto-West Germanic *sunnā Old English sunne Middle English sonne English sun From Middle English soen, son, sone, sonne, sun, sune, sunna, sunne, sunnæ, synne, zonne, zunne, from Old English sunna, sunne, sunnu (“sun”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ (“sun”), from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen-, oblique of Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognates Cognate with Scots sun (“sun”), Yola zin (“sun”), North Frisian san, Sen (“sun”), Saterland Frisian Sunne (“sun”), West Frisian sinne (“sun”), Alemannic German ŝchunna, ŝchunnà, sònnò, sunna, sunnu, Sunnä (“sun”), Bavarian Sun, suna, sune, Sunn, sunne (“sun”), Cimbrian sonde, sunn, zunna (“sun”), Dutch zon, zonne (“sun”), German Sonne (“sun”), Limburgish Ṣon, Sonn, zón (“sun”), Low German Sünn, Sünne (“sun”), Luxembourgish Sonn (“sun”), Mòcheno sunn (“sun”), Vilamovian zun, zunn (“sun”), West Flemish zunne (“sun”), Yiddish זון (zun, “sun”), Icelandic sunna (“sun”), Crimean Gothic sune (“sun”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉 (sunnō, “the Sun”); outside of Germanic, Cornish howl (“sun”), Irish súil (“eye; expectation, hope”), Manx sooill (“eye”), Scottish Gaelic sùil (“eye; vision; glance, look; expectation, hope”), Welsh haul, huan (“sun”), Latin sōl (“sun”), Greek ήλιος (ílios, “sun”), Albanian diell (“sun”), Latgalian and Latvian saule (“sun”), Lithuanian saulė (“sun”), Belarusian со́нца (sónca, “sun”), Bulgarian слъ́нце (slắnce, “sun”), Czech slunce (“sun”), Macedonian солнце (solnce), сонце (sonce, “sun”), Polish słońce (“sun”), Russian со́лнце (sólnce, “sun”), Serbo-Croatian су̑нце, sȗnce (“sun”), Slovak slnce (“sun”), Slovene sonce (“sun”), Ukrainian со́нце (sónce, “sun”), Avestan 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 (huuar^ə, “sun”), Central Kurdish خۆر (xor, “sun”), Gurani وەر (wer, “sun; front”), Ossetian хор (xor), хур (xur, “sun”), Persian هور (hur), خور (xor / xwar, “sun”), Shughni хӣр (xīr, “sun”), Yaghnobi хур (xur, “sun”), Tocharian B swāñco (“beam, ray, sunbeam”), Hindi सूर्य (sūrya), Sanskrit स्वर् (svar, “sun”). Related to sol, Sol, Surya, and Helios. More at solar.
A star, especially when seen as the centre of any single solar system.
The light and heat which are received from the Sun; sunshine or sunlight.
I have been broiling in the sun all morning.
Something like the sun in brightness or splendor.
Sunrise or sunset.
A revolution of the Earth around the Sun; a year.
A transversing of the sky by the Sun; a day.
The nineteenth trump/major arcana card of the tarot.
The thirty-first Lenormand card.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥der. Proto-Germanic *sunnô Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ Proto-West Germanic *sunnā Old English sunne Middle English sonne English sun From Middle English soen, son, sone, sonne, sun, sune, sunna, sunne, sunnæ, synne, zonne, zunne, from Old English sunna, sunne, sunnu (“sun”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ (“sun”), from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen-, oblique of Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognates Cognate with Scots sun (“sun”), Yola zin (“sun”), North Frisian san, Sen (“sun”), Saterland Frisian Sunne (“sun”), West Frisian sinne (“sun”), Alemannic German ŝchunna, ŝchunnà, sònnò, sunna, sunnu, Sunnä (“sun”), Bavarian Sun, suna, sune, Sunn, sunne (“sun”), Cimbrian sonde, sunn, zunna (“sun”), Dutch zon, zonne (“sun”), German Sonne (“sun”), Limburgish Ṣon, Sonn, zón (“sun”), Low German Sünn, Sünne (“sun”), Luxembourgish Sonn (“sun”), Mòcheno sunn (“sun”), Vilamovian zun, zunn (“sun”), West Flemish zunne (“sun”), Yiddish זון (zun, “sun”), Icelandic sunna (“sun”), Crimean Gothic sune (“sun”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉 (sunnō, “the Sun”); outside of Germanic, Cornish howl (“sun”), Irish súil (“eye; expectation, hope”), Manx sooill (“eye”), Scottish Gaelic sùil (“eye; vision; glance, look; expectation, hope”), Welsh haul, huan (“sun”), Latin sōl (“sun”), Greek ήλιος (ílios, “sun”), Albanian diell (“sun”), Latgalian and Latvian saule (“sun”), Lithuanian saulė (“sun”), Belarusian со́нца (sónca, “sun”), Bulgarian слъ́нце (slắnce, “sun”), Czech slunce (“sun”), Macedonian солнце (solnce), сонце (sonce, “sun”), Polish słońce (“sun”), Russian со́лнце (sólnce, “sun”), Serbo-Croatian су̑нце, sȗnce (“sun”), Slovak slnce (“sun”), Slovene sonce (“sun”), Ukrainian со́нце (sónce, “sun”), Avestan 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 (huuar^ə, “sun”), Central Kurdish خۆر (xor, “sun”), Gurani وەر (wer, “sun; front”), Ossetian хор (xor), хур (xur, “sun”), Persian هور (hur), خور (xor / xwar, “sun”), Shughni хӣр (xīr, “sun”), Yaghnobi хур (xur, “sun”), Tocharian B swāñco (“beam, ray, sunbeam”), Hindi सूर्य (sūrya), Sanskrit स्वर् (svar, “sun”). Related to sol, Sol, Surya, and Helios. More at solar.
To expose to the heat and radiation of the sun.
Beautiful bodies lying on the beach, sunning their bronzed limbs.
To warm or dry in the sunshine.
To be exposed to the sun.
To expose the eyes to the sun as part of the Bates method.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥der. Proto-Germanic *sunnô Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ Proto-West Germanic *sunnā Old English sunne Middle English sonne English sun From Middle English soen, son, sone, sonne, sun, sune, sunna, sunne, sunnæ, synne, zonne, zunne, from Old English sunna, sunne, sunnu (“sun”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ (“sun”), from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen-, oblique of Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognates Cognate with Scots sun (“sun”), Yola zin (“sun”), North Frisian san, Sen (“sun”), Saterland Frisian Sunne (“sun”), West Frisian sinne (“sun”), Alemannic German ŝchunna, ŝchunnà, sònnò, sunna, sunnu, Sunnä (“sun”), Bavarian Sun, suna, sune, Sunn, sunne (“sun”), Cimbrian sonde, sunn, zunna (“sun”), Dutch zon, zonne (“sun”), German Sonne (“sun”), Limburgish Ṣon, Sonn, zón (“sun”), Low German Sünn, Sünne (“sun”), Luxembourgish Sonn (“sun”), Mòcheno sunn (“sun”), Vilamovian zun, zunn (“sun”), West Flemish zunne (“sun”), Yiddish זון (zun, “sun”), Icelandic sunna (“sun”), Crimean Gothic sune (“sun”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉 (sunnō, “the Sun”); outside of Germanic, Cornish howl (“sun”), Irish súil (“eye; expectation, hope”), Manx sooill (“eye”), Scottish Gaelic sùil (“eye; vision; glance, look; expectation, hope”), Welsh haul, huan (“sun”), Latin sōl (“sun”), Greek ήλιος (ílios, “sun”), Albanian diell (“sun”), Latgalian and Latvian saule (“sun”), Lithuanian saulė (“sun”), Belarusian со́нца (sónca, “sun”), Bulgarian слъ́нце (slắnce, “sun”), Czech slunce (“sun”), Macedonian солнце (solnce), сонце (sonce, “sun”), Polish słońce (“sun”), Russian со́лнце (sólnce, “sun”), Serbo-Croatian су̑нце, sȗnce (“sun”), Slovak slnce (“sun”), Slovene sonce (“sun”), Ukrainian со́нце (sónce, “sun”), Avestan 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 (huuar^ə, “sun”), Central Kurdish خۆر (xor, “sun”), Gurani وەر (wer, “sun; front”), Ossetian хор (xor), хур (xur, “sun”), Persian هور (hur), خور (xor / xwar, “sun”), Shughni хӣр (xīr, “sun”), Yaghnobi хур (xur, “sun”), Tocharian B swāñco (“beam, ray, sunbeam”), Hindi सूर्य (sūrya), Sanskrit स्वर् (svar, “sun”). Related to sol, Sol, Surya, and Helios. More at solar.
A traditional Japanese unit of length, approximately 30.3 millimetres (1.193 inches).
Where this word comes from
From Japanese 寸 (sun). Doublet of cun.
Alternative form of sunn (“the plant”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.