Sun

Pronunciation

• enPR: sÅ­n, IPA: /sÊŒn/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒn
• Homophones: son

Alternative forms

• (proper noun, star which the Earth revolves around) capitalized Sun

Origin

From Middle English sunne, from Old English sunne, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ (compare West Frisian sinne, Low German Sünn, Dutch zon, German Sonne, Icelandic sunna), from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh̥₂uén 'sun' (compare Welsh huan, Avestan genitive (xᵛə̄ṇg)), oblique of *sóh₂wl̥. More at solar.

Full definition of sun

Proper noun

1. The star which the Earth revolves around and from which it receives light and warmth.The Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1998
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, 'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.

Noun

1. (astronomy) A star, especially when seen as the centre of any single solar system.
2. The light and warmth which is received from the sun.
• ShakespeareLambs that did frisk in the sun.
3. Something like the sun in brightness or splendor.Webster's College Dictionary, Random House, 2001
• Bible, Psalms lxxiv. 11For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
• Eikon BasilikeI will never consent to put out the sun of sovereignity to posterity.
4. (chiefly literary) Sunrise or sunset.
• 1609-11, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Imogen: ... Pr'ythee, speak,
  How many score of miles may we well ride
  'Twixt hour and hour
  Pisanio: One score, 'twixt sun and sun,
  Madam, 's enough for you; and too much too.
  Imogen: Why, one that rode to his execution, man,
  Could never go so slow.
• 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, whilst many an hunger-starved poor creature pines in the street, wants clothes to cover him, labours hard all day long, runs, rides for a trifle, fights peradventure from sun to sun, sick and ill, weary, full of pain and grief, is in great distress and sorrow of heart.
• 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, I love these sons of earth every mother's son of them, with their great hearty hearts rushing tumultuously in herds from spectacle to spectacle, as if fearful lest there should not be time between sun and sun to see them all, and the sun does not wait more than in haying-time.
• 1962, Harry S. Truman, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, You see, the President has five jobs, any one of which would be more than a full-time job for one man; but I have to do all five of them between sun and sun.
• 1997, Alan Dean Foster, Howling Stones, “Tomorrow at first sun.” Not being much of a morning person, she winced internally. “First sun?” “It is the proper time, when the flowers of the pohoroh first open to the light.”

Derived terms

Verb

1. (transitive) To expose to the warmth and radiation of the sun.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 2, Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines. A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.
2. Beautiful bodies lying on the beach, sunning their bronzed limbs.
3. (transitive) To warm or dry in the sunshine.
4. (intransitive) To be exposed to the sun.

Anagrams

• NUS
• USN