Where does “son” come from?

son (English) comes from Middle English sone, from Old English sōna, from Proto-West Germanic sān(ō), from Proto-Germanic sēna, from Proto-Germanic *sa, from Proto-Austronesian *əsa, from Proto-Oceanic *isa.

Ancestry of “son”, step by step

son traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English sone

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishsoneson; soon; Alternative form of sonne
2Old Englishsōnaimmediately, at once
3Proto-West Germanicsān(ō)immediately
4Proto-Germanicsēna—
5Proto-Germanic*sa—
6Proto-Austronesian*əsa—
7Proto-Oceanic*isa—

via Spanish son

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1SpanishsonA pleasant sound, tone; An Afro-Cuban musical...
2Latinsonussound, noise; pitch; speech; tone, character,...
3Latinsonōto sound, resound, make a sound or noise (and various sounds in-context)
4Proto-Italic*swonaōto sound, resound

via Korean 손

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean손hand; visitor; customer
2Chinese損—

Words derived from “son”

Every word from Proto-Oceanic *isa →