son

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: a human male offspring especially of human beings
b
: a male adopted child
c
: a human male descendant
2
capitalized : the second person of the Trinity
3
: a person closely associated with or deriving from a formative agent (such as a nation, school, or race)
sonhood noun

son-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or sono-
: sound
sonic
sonogram

Examples of son in a Sentence

Noun She gave birth to a son. They have two sons and a daughter. He is the son of a lawyer and a doctor. the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Donoghue’s 10- and 13-year-old sons grew up there — the family, which lives about half an hour away, got a season pass when their younger son, Ray, was 6 months old. Shannon Pettypiece, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025 Paolo Tiramani An industrial designer, Paolo Tiramani co-founded a modular homes company, BOXABL, with his son. Melanie Hicken, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025 The fantasy epic starred Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Grace VanderWaal, Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman, plus Coppola’s sister Talia Shire and her son Jason Schwartzman. Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025 The letter writer had expressed her displeasure to her son about their parenting in this regard, but the son didn’t change. R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for son

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sone, from Old English sunu; akin to Old High German sun son, Greek hyios

Combining form

Latin sonus sound

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of son was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Son.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/son. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

son

noun
1
a
: a male offspring especially of human parents
b
: a human male descendant
2
capitalized : the second person of the Trinity
3
: a man or boy closely associated with or thought of as a child of something (as a country, race, or religion)

More from Merriam-Webster on son

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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