Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “soon” come from?

Soon descends from Middle English sone, Old English sunne, and Proto-Indo-European sóh₂wl̥, originally denoting the sun before developing temporal meaning.

soon (English): Short in length of time from the present; early;...

Definitions

  1. Short in length of time from the present; early;...

Ancestry of “soon”, step by step

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—

Words derived from “soon”

  • oversoon
  • soonish
  • soonly
  • soonness
  • suno
Every word from Proto-Oceanic *isa →