▪ I. son, n.1
(sʌn)
Forms: α. 1 sunu, 1–2 suna, (1) 2–5 sune, 4 sunn(e, 4–5 sun, 8 Sc. sin. β. 3–8 sone (4 zone), 4–5 soone, 4, 6 soon, 6 soonne; 5 soun(e; 4–7 sonne, 4– son (6 dial. zon, Sc. schon, 7 sonn).
[Common Teut.: OE. sunu (gen. suna), = OFris. sunu, sune, sone (EFris. sûnû, WFris. soan, NFris. sen, sên, etc.), MDu. sone, zone (Du. zoon), OS. sunu (MLG. sone, LG. sone, sön, sän, etc.), OHG. sunu, sun (MHG. sune, sun, son, G. sohn), ON. sunr, sonr (Icel. sonur, Norw. and Sw. son, Da. s{obar}n), Goth. sunus. Outside of the Teutonic languages similar forms appear in Lith. sûnus, OSlav. synŭ (Russ. sȳn), Skr. sūnu (Zend. hunu). The root su- is also that of Gr. υἱός.
The declension in OE. is variable through confusion of the different cases and the introduction of new forms, as gen. sing. sunes, nom. pl. sunan, gen. pl. sunena. From early ME. the usual possessive and plural forms are those in -es or -s.
Senses 2–7 represent for the most part Biblical uses of the word, examples of which occur freely in all the English versions of the Scriptures.]
1. a. A male child or person in relation to either or to both of his parents. Sometimes said of animals.
See also mother's son.
| α Beowulf 645 Oþ þæt..sunu Healfdenes secean wolde æfenræste. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §1 Þa wæs þær Apollines dohtor Iobes suna. 971 Blickl. Hom. 7 Ðu cennest sunu þone þu nemnest Hælend. c 1100 O.E. Chron. an. 1052 (MS. D), His sunan wæron eorlas & þæs cynges dyrlingas. c 1122 Ibid. an. 1121 (Laud MS.), Seo wæs Willelme þes cynges sune..to wife forᵹyfan. c 1200 Ormin 488 And ta twa prestess wærenn Aaroness suness baþe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2175 Alle we ben on faderes sunen. a 1300 Cursor M. 796 Of þat ilk appel bitt þair suns tethe ar eggeid yitt. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 298 He had þre þryuen sunez & þay þre wyuez. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6567 Se ye not the sun of youre sure kyng.. turnyt away? 1559 Mirr. Mag., O. Glendour vi, How would we mocke the burden bearing mule If he would brag he wer an horses sunne. 1786 Burns Halloween xvi, Our Stibble-rig was Rab M‘Graen... His Sin gat Eppie Sim wi' wean. |
| β a 1275 Prov. ælfred 574 in O.E. Misc. 134 Sone min swo leue, site me nu bisides. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 21 Edwyne, is sone, was king i-maud. 1340 Ayenb. 48 Ne uorzakeþ nenne ne uader ne broþer ne zone. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 385 Dedalus wiþ his sone Icarus. c 1412 Hoccleve De. Reg. Princ. 2736 A man þat sone was To a conseil, was take in þis trespas. 1473 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 191 Thome Sowtar forsaid and his thre sonys. 1529 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 57, I gyue and bequethe to my saide Soon Gregorye A Bason. 1596 Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ii. (1635) 48 During the minority of his eldest sonn. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 32 Indulgent David view'd His Youthful Image in his Son renew'd. 1741–2 Gray Agrip. 67 If the son reign, the mother perishes. 1764 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) IV. 39 Lord Colchester, son to the earl of Rivers. 1812 Southey Let. in Life (1850) III. 325 His name is Shelley, son to the member for Shoreham. 1857 Borrow Rom. Rye xxxix, Soliman..after his death befriended his young son. 1871 Smiles Charac. ii. (1876) 46 To inspire her sons' minds with elevating thoughts. 1974 New Yorker 29 Apr. 102/2 A son of..a Thoroughbred, and..a quarter-horse brood mare. |
| fig. 1781 Cowper Heroism 59 Famine, and pestilence, her first-born son. |
b. In the phrase son and heir. Also fig.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9607 In is warde he let do Henri is eldoste sone & is eir al so. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 5 Sorow & site he made..For his sonne & heyre. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 666, I schal..sothely sende to sare a son & an hayre. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. viii, Of Phœbus..Poetes write that he was sonne and heire. 1481 Cov. Leet Bk. 475 The son & heir of hym that nowe pretendeth to be kyng. 1576 in Excheq. Rolls Scotl. XX. 372 Jhone Dromond,..quhe is schon and air to his fader Jhone Dromond. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. i. v, As clean as your sons-and-heirs when they ha' spent all. 1833 Tennyson Death Old Year 31 To see him die..His son and heir doth ride post-haste. |
c. = son-in-law.
| 1533 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 38 My said sone Briane Tunstall. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 78 Bap. Sonne, Ile be your halfe, Bianca comes. |
2. Theol. The second person of the Trinity. (Cf. 4 a.)
| c 825 Vesp. Hymns viii. 21 Bledsien we feder & sunu & ðone halᵹan gast. a 900 Halsuncge in Durh. Rit. (Surtees) 114 Ic eow halsiᵹe on fæder naman, and on suna naman. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 85 Þe feder and þe sune and þe halie gast. 1340 Ayenb. 12 Þe oþer article belongeþ to þe zone aze to his godhede. 1382 Wyclif 1 John ii. 24 Ȝe shulen dwelle in the sone and the fadir. c 1420 [see god 5 d]. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xliv. 29 That Sone is Lord, that Sone is King of kingis. 1548 Bk. Com. Prayer, Athanas. Creed, The Father is God, the Son is God. a 1628 F. Grevil in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) I. 108 We seeme more inwardly to knowe the Sonne. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 260 It was the hour of night, when thus the Son Commun'd in silent walk. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1817 Shelley Satan broke Loose 5 The Father and the Son Knew that strife was now begun. 1858 Whittier Trinitas 56 Father, and Son, and Holy Call; This day thou hast denied them all! |
3. a. One who is regarded as, or takes the place of, a son. † Also spec. at Cambridge, one presented for a degree by the ‘father’ of his college. † white son: see white a.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter ii. 7 Dryhten cwæð to me: Sunu min ðu earð; to deᵹe ic cende ðec. c 1000 ælfric Exod. ii. 10 And heo hine lufode, & hæfde for sunu hyre. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xix. 26 Þa cwæþ he to his meder: Wif, her ys þin sunu. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 19 Alle men ben godes children, for þat he hem alle shop, and ches hem to sunes and to dohtres. a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 87 His mercy..That..me, a wreche, his sun walde make. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 33 Quhome God ressaifis to his sone and air, Him will he scurge. 1574 M. Stokys in Peacock Stat. Cambr. (1841) App. A. p. x, The Father..shall call fourthe his eldest sone, & animate hym to dispute. 1665 in Wordsworth Univ. Life 18th C. (1874) 412 Then the Father calleth up the Answerer, and showeth him his sons. 1718 Prior Solomon iii. 889 Let Thy command Restore, great Father, Thy instructed son. 1799 Wordsw. The Fountain 62 And, Matthew, for thy children dead I'll be a son to thee! 1877 Baring-Gould Lives Saints Oct. 305 The child afterwards lived and died in God's service at Ripon, and was called the bishop's son. |
b. Used as a term of affectionate address to a man or boy by an older person or by one in a superior (esp. ecclesiastical) relation, and as a term of familiar address without implication of affection. Cf. old son s.v. old a. 8 a.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ix. 2 La sunu forᵹefen biðon..ðe synno ðina. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 108 Mi Sone, in alle maner wise, Surquiderie is to despise. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 49 Soune most glorious, most rightful Emperour. c 1440 Alph. Tales 196 Þe bisshop sayd; ‘Nay, son,..here hase bene a noder emperour of long tyme’. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1183/2 The Foxe..charged hym to..lye styll and sleepe lyke a good sonne. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 161 Duke. Son, I haue ouer-heard what hath past between you & your sister. 1820 Scott Monast. xxv, ‘Prove thy strength, my son, in the name of God!’ said the preacher. Ibid. xxxii, ‘Even now, if thou wilt,’ said the Sub-Prior,..‘come hither, my son, and kneel down’. 1914 G. B. Shaw Misalliance 5 Bentley:{ddd}I should like to wring your damned neck for you. Johnny (with a derisive laugh): Try it, my son. 1959 E. H. Clements High Tension vii. 121 No good brooding, son. 1967 Listener 22 June 807/2 He was then asked to accompany the police to the police-box in order to confirm his identity. He replied, ‘Look, son, I am not moving from this spot. If you want me you will have to arrest me.’ 1974 S. Marcus Minding Store (1975) ix. 188 Mr. Seeligson said, ‘Son, you've done me a great favor. I appreciate all the trouble you've gone to.’ |
4. Son of God: a. Jesus Christ. (Cf. 2.) Also † God's son. Hence Son-of-godship.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xxii. 70 Cuoedon ða alle, ðu..arð sunu godes. c 1200 Ormin 267 Till þatt Godess Sune Crist Himm shollde onn eorþe shæwenn. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 403 And ȝet sal godes dere sune In ȝure kin in werlde wunen. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5044 In..archaungel steven, And in þe son of Goddes awen beme. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) vii. 12 Als tapostil saide of godis sune. a 1529 Skelton Prayer to Second Person 2 O benygne Jesu,..The only Sonne of God by filiacion. 1588 Kyd Househ. Phil. 449 Wks. (1901) 250 For our worlde was dignified with the presence of the true Sonne of God. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 138 Beyond compare the Son of God was seen Most glorious. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Son of God Created the World; the Son of God was Incarnate. 1817 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XLIV. 315 This claim to the son-of-godship renders the facts irrefragably certain. 1884 Addis & Arnold Cath. Dict. (1897) 900/1 The ideas..are applied to Christ, and united to the doctrine of his generation as the Son of God before the world was made. |
b. A divine being; an angel.
| 1382 Wyclif Job xxxvii. 7 Who dide doun the corner ston of it, whan..alle the sones of God shulden ioȝen? 1560 Bible (Geneva) Job i. 6 marg., Meaning, the Angels which are called the sonnes of God. 1599 Davies Immort. Soul vii. ix. (1714) 47 The Angels, Sons of God are nam'd. 1643 Caryl Expos. Job I. 37 The Angels..are the Sons of God by temporal Creation. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 368, I came among the Sons of God, when he Gave up unto my hands Uzzean Job. 1784 Cowper Task v. 821. |
c. One spiritually attached to God.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John i. 12 [He] ᵹesalde ðæm mæht suno godes wosa. 1382 Wyclif Rom. viii. 14 Sothli who euere ben lad by the spirit of God, thes ben the sones of God. 1643 Caryl Expos. Job I. 1887 That priviledge is assured to the Sons of God (1 John 3. 2) ‘We shall see him as he is’. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 617 That sober Race of Men, whose lives Religious titl'd them the Sons of God. |
5. son of man: a. One of the human race; a mortal. Also pl. sons of men.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter viii. 5 Hwet is..sunu monnes forðon ðu neosas hine? c 1000 Ags. Ps. lxxix. 16 Si þin seo swiðre hand..ofer mannes sunu. a 1300 E.E. Psalter iv. 3 Mennes sones, towhen of hert vnmeke? 1382 Wyclif Isaiah li. 12 Who [art] thou, that thou drede of a deadly man, and of the sone of man. 1562 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 14 Thow sone of man, the house of Israell is turnit into drosse. c 1639 Sir W. Mure Ps. cxlvi. 3 Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 226 Trust not in princes, in the sone Of man who can not save. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 237 The Eternal King, who rules All Heaven and Earth, Angels and Sons of men. 1718 Prior Solomon i. 1 Ye sons of men, with just regard attend. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. xii, Deciduous Forests that die and are born again, continually, like the sons of men. |
b. spec. Jesus Christ.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. viii. 20 Sunu..monnes ne hæfis huer heafud..ᵹebeᵹes. c 1275 Passion our Lord 172 in O.E. Misc. 42 Monnes sune biþ bi-tauht in sunuulle honde. a 1300 Cursor M. 19439 And man sun þare se i stand, Iesus, bi godd on his righthand. 1382 Wyclif Matt. viii. 20 But mannes sone hath nat wher he reste his heued. 1575 Gascoigne Posies (1907) 56 The sunne [is like] the Sonne of man. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §95 Shall the stones cry out against you, that they are the only pillows where the Son of Man can lay His head? 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn lv, Then, with hushed voices,..they spoke of the Days of the Son of Man. |
6. a. A male descendant of some person or representative of some race.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. i. 1 Boc cneurise haelendes cristes dauides sunu abrahames sunu. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptist) 63 Mony sonnis of israel..to god, þar lord, turne sal he. c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 62 Though that I, unworthy sone of Eve, Be synful. c 1450 Holland Howlat 577 The Dowglass..Wan wichtly of weir..Fra sonnis of the Saxonis. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 66 Adams sonnes are my brethren. 1781 Cowper Expost. 124 Such..People and priest, the sons of Israel were. 1830 Scott Monast. Introd., They have no share in the promise made to the sons of Adam. |
b. One who inherits the spirit, or displays the character, of some person, etc.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 268 Þerfore seiþ austyn..þat þou art his soone whoos werkis þou dost. 1382 ― Judges xix. 22 Camen men of that cytee, the sones of Belial. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶896 Thay were the sones of Belial, that is, the devel. 1508 Dunbar Poems vii. 12 Welcum the soun of Mars of moste curage. 1594 Kyd Cornelia iv. i. 167 Braue Romaine Souldiers, sterne-borne sons of Mars. 1672 Dryden Defence Wks. 1883 IV. 240 They can tell a story of Ben Jonson, and, perhaps, have had fancy enough to give a supper in the Apollo, that they might be called his sons. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Son of Apollo, a Scholar... [Son of] Venus, a Lover of Women. [Son of] Mercury, a Wit. a 1700–1785 [see Mars 1]. |
c. A member or adherent of a religious body or order, or a follower of the founder of one.
| 1416 Munim. de Melros (Bann. Cl.) 539 Alle þe Sonnys of oure hali modir þe kirk. 1590 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 189 To be ruled by you as an obedient son of the Society. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 174 Young knights..professe themselves Sonnes of the Church. 1630, 1695 [see mother n.1 2 c]. 1757 in Morris Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872) i. iv. 206 A son of Ignatius, a Priest of the Society of Jesus. 1851 Pugin Chancel Screens 83 More than a hundred sons of S. Benedict. |
d. son of ―: at one time a common formula for the title of a sequel to a book or film; hence used joc. to designate a programme, product, institution, etc., that is a derivative of its predecessor.
| 1929 E. R. Burroughs (title) Son of Tarzan. 1934 Picturegoer 23 June 20/3 Son of Kong... By no means a second King Kong this picture, nevertheless, has some clever technical qualities. 1941 ‘B. Graeme’ (title) Son of Blackshirt. 1965 [see horror film s.v. horror n. 6]. 1966 ‘O. Mills’ Enemies of Bride iv. 47, I produced a scintillating piece of non-fiction called..Elizabethan Domestic Drama... I got a sequel—Son-of-Elizabethan-Domestic-Drama..—into print as well. 1971 R. Petrie Thorne in Flesh iii. 45 We don't want you playing Son of Sexton Blake... You could get hurt. 1976 Gramophone Nov. 910/1 The XSV/3000 is recognizably a ‘son of’ the XUV/4500Q: it has the same slim-line body and lightweight fixing wings. 1979 Daily Tel. 29 Mar. 6/3 (heading) Cheaper seats likely if ‘Son of Concorde’ flies. 1981 Times 19 Nov. 13/1 President Reagan..has now formally endorsed..negotiations..on strategic arms reductions (now known as ‘Start’, son of Salt). |
7. a. One who is characterized by the presence, possession, influence, use, etc., of some quality or thing.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke x. 6 And ᵹif ðer sie sunu sibbes, wunað ofer hia sibb iuera. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶312 Forther ouer, it maketh hym þat whilom was a son of Ire to be son of grace. Ibid. ¶335 Therfore be we alle born sones of wratthe and of dampnacion perdurable. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 191 They are villaines, and the sonnes of darknesse. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. i. 329 Amongst all the sonnes of pride, he is the king. 1648 Prynne Plea for Lords 5 They are the Sonnes of Conquest introduced by the Conquerour. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 42 Certain Sons of Parchment, call'd Solicitors and Barristers. 1748 Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 250 The fierce Croatian, and the wild Hussar, With all the sons of ravage crowd the war. 1770 J. Adams Diary 1 July, Wks. 1850 II. 243 Came home and took a pipe after supper with landlord, who is a staunch, zealous son of liberty. 1803 Visct. Strangford Poems of Camoens Notes (1810) 127 Locks of auburn, and eyes of blue, have ever been dear to the sons of song. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 313 Sons of wax is neither an uncommon nor an uncomplimentary name for them [boot and shoe makers]. |
b. A person regarded as the product or offspring of a certain country or place.
son of the soil: see soil n.1 5 b.
| 1595 Shakes. John v. ii. 25 We, the sonnes and children of this Isle. 1628 Milton Vac. Exerc. 91 Whether thou be the Son, Of utmost Tweed, or Oose, or gulphie Dun. 1667 ― P.L. ii. 692 Art thou hee, Who..Drew after him the third part of Heav'ns Sons? 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Ep. i. i. 75 Ye Sons of Rome, let Money first be sought. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 112 Could Nature's bounty satisfy the breast, The sons of Italy were surely blest. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 235 These good hearted, hospitable..sons of the west. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xli, They have taught him their language, which he already speaks as well as if he were a son of the prison. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. 55 The foreign spoiler..insensibly changed into the Son of the soil, into an Englishman. |
| transf. 1712 Blackmore Creation vi. 272 See, her tall Sons, the Cedar, Oak, and Pine, The fragrant Myrtle, and the juicy Vine. |
c. In miscellaneous fig. uses.
| 1617 Fletcher Valentinian v. ii. song, Easie, sweet,..thou son of night, Pass by his troubled senses. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. vi. i, As an actually existing Son of Time, look..at what the Time did bring. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 3 Man, who is a worm, and the son of a worm. |
d. In terms of abuse or contempt. Also used ellipt. for son of a bitch.
See dunghill n. 2, gun n. 6 c, sea-cook s.v. sea n. 23, shoemaker, whore.
| 1951 W. Faulkner Collected Stories 171 Are you going to sit there and let a black son rape a white woman on the streets of Jefferson? |
e. Son of Heaven († Heaven's Son) [tr. Chinese tiānzǐ], the Emperor of China; loosely, any Chinese. Cf. celestial a. 4 and n. 2.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage IV. xvi. 369 The King's Title is, Lord of the world, and Sonne of Heaven. 1838 Gützlaff & Reed China Opened II. xxvii. 541 To gain such honours as the Mongol princes pay to Heaven's Son, requires a well-stored treasury. 1850 North-China Herald 9 Nov. 58/4 One of the common appellations of the Emperors of China has been and still is T'ien Tsze, ‘the Son of Heaven!’ 1923 S. Merwin Silk (1924) 136 It is now my privilege to serve him who is in all but official style the Son of Heaven. 1938 Foreign Affairs XVI. 201 A dignity which the ‘Sons of Heaven’ consider has belonged to them for thousands of years. 1973 J. Leasor Mandarin Gold i. 1 The Emperor, Tao Kuang, the Son of Heaven, who ruled his celestial empire from..Peking, the forbidden city. |
f. (horny-handed) son of toil, a manual labourer. Now often ironically.
| 1873 Q. Rev. CXXXV. 543 The peculiar virtues of the horny-handed sons of toil received a severe shock in 1848, and finally collapsed in 1871. 1902 ‘Mark Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 441 A crowd of ten thousand..proud, untamed democrats, horny-handed sons of toil..and fliers of the eagle. 1933 Wodehouse Heavy Weather xvii. 298 You look like one of those Sons of Toil Buried by Tons of Soil I once saw in a head-line. 1976 Times 23 Mar. 19/4 There won't be any room for your actual horny-handed sons of toil in the TUC; there'll be too many sharp-suited managers. |
8. a. son-before-the-father, a name given to various plants, as the willow-herb, meadow-saffron, coltsfoot, etc., on account of the flowers appearing before the leaves or because of some other peculiarity.
See Britten & Holland Dict. Engl. Plant-names 442.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. li. 74 The second [= red willow herb] is called of some..Filius ante patrem, that is to say, the sonne before the father. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxxii. 131 The Latins thought this a fit name for it Filius ante Patrem: and we accordingly may call it, the Sonne before the Father. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 65/1 The Son before the Father, so called of some Herbalists. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Son-afore-the-father, Common Coltsfoot. 1869 N. & Q. 4th Ser. III. 35/1. Ibid. 91/1. |
b. son-of-the-sun, the frigate-bird.
| 1895 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. IV. 287 The frigate-bird, which has received the title of the Son-of-the-sun, is one of the most swift and active of all pelagic birds. |
9. attrib., as son-spouse, son-worship; son-lover, a son who is his mother's lover.
| 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxxvi, Son-worship amongst mothers. 1897 Q. Rev. July 69 The Great Goddess of Asia, attended by her mystic Son-spouse. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Let. Jan. (1932) 102 The old son-lover was Œdipus. |
Sense 9 in Dict. becomes 10. Add: 9. Computing. An updated file, usu. on a removable magnetic medium, which has been created from a corresponding father (*father n. 11).
| 1962, etc. [see *grandfather n. 1 c]. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvi. 265 The new master tape (‘son’) is retained till the next updating run in which it serves as the old master tape (‘father’). 1985 English Today July–Sept. 13/3 There is also an increasing number of attractive even humorous terms in computing... A grandfather file, father file, and son file are a series of updated files. |
▪ II. son, n.2
(səʊn)
Also sone.
[a. Sp. son, lit. ‘sound’.]
A slow Cuban dance and song in {twoon4} time; son Afro-Cubano, a form of the son influenced by Negro dances.
| 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz vii. 167 The Son is far more refined than the Rumba, and when properly danced, is plaintively alluring. The Son is always danced in very slow tempo. This Cuban music is particularly characterized by the continual recurrence of singing. 1939 [see macumba]. 1954 Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) III. 215/1 When Afro-Cuban dances penetrated the port towns of Cuba they were assimilated by Spanish-Cuban folk music... The hybrid forms are then designated by such titles as son afro-cubano. 1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) iii. 26 The Rhumba, Conga, Son Afro-Cubano, Mambo, and Cha-Cha are predominantly African. 1958 E. Borneman in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xxi. 270 The sone itself usually consisted of an eight-bar theme for solo voice, followed by an improvised four-bar tag, called montuno, that was sung in choir and repeated twice. Whereas the themes of the sones were usually lilting tunes of obviously Spanish descent, the montunos were unmistakably African. 1964 W. G. Raffé Dict. Dance 469/2 As a ballroom dance, the Son remained very popular until about 1950, when the Mamba began to supersede every other dance in Cuba. 1973 [see rumba dancer s.v. rumba n. 2]. |
▪ III. son
obs. form of sound n., sun n.1
▪ IV. son, v. rare.
Also 3 sunen.
[f. the n.]
† 1. intr. To conceive a son. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 981 And seide ȝhe sulde sunen wel And timen, and clepen it [I]smael. |
2. With it: To act or behave as a son.
| 1731 Fielding Covent Gard. Trag. Proleg. Wks. 1882 IX. 170 If I mistake not, in the scene immediately preceding, Bilkum and she have mothered and soned it several times. |