# son

> English word · Noun · IPA /sʌn/ · frequency rank #534

## Definitions
1. One's male offspring.
2. A male adopted person in relation to his adoptive parents.
3. A male person who has such a close relationship with an older or otherwise more authoritative person that he can be regarded as a son of the other person.
4. A male person considered to have been significantly shaped by social conflict.
5. A person regarded as the product of some place.
6. A familiar address to a male person from an older or otherwise more authoritative person.
7. An informal address to a friend or person of equal authority.
8. The current version of a file, derived from the preceding father file.

## Etymology
From Middle English sonn, sone, sun, sune, from Old English sunu (“son”), from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to bear; give birth”).

## Easily confused with
- **SS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-ss)
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sp)
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-su)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sw)
- **SV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sv)
- **Sy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sy)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sum)
- **spy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-spy)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sue)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-spa)
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sox)
- **soy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-soy)
- **SUV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-suv)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sup)
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-std)
- **sow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sow)
- **SQL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sql)
- **SOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-sos)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/son