Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sun

/sʌn/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.97 in modern English

Syllables
sun
IPA
/sʌn/
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

The star that is closest to the Earth.

noun

A star, especially when seen as the centre of any single solar system.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The light and heat which are received from the Sun; sunshine or sunlight.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Something like the sun in brightness or splendor.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Sunrise or sunset.

Literary; Uncountable

noun

A revolution of the Earth around the Sun; a year.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A transversing of the sky by the Sun; a day.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The nineteenth trump/major arcana card of the tarot.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

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.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: soen, sunna, *sunnā, *sunnǭ, *sóh₂wl̥, 寸

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /sʌn/
  • British English: /sʌn/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Law.

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce sun?
The recorded pronunciation is /sʌn/.
What does sun mean?
The star that is closest to the Earth.
Where does sun come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce sun

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sun”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/sʌn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sun”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sun” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.