"S" Word Origins

sundance

Origin

A compound of sun and dance.

Sunday

Latin

From Old English sunnandæġ, literally "day of the sun," a translation of the Latin diēs Sōlis.

sunder

Latin

From Old English sundor- ("separate, apart"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "isolated" — related to Latin sine ("without").

sunderance

Origin

From sunder + -ance.

Sunderland

Origin

Formed from sunder plus the suffix -land.

sundial

Origin

From sun plus dial — the word dial was later adapted for clock faces too.

sundown

Origin

A compound of sun and down.

sundry

Old English

From Old English syndriġ ("separate, individual"), related to sunder.

sunflower

Origin

A compound of sun and flower, likely named for the flower's shape and colour resembling the sun.

Sung

Chinese

From Chinese 宋 (Sòng) Wade–Giles romanization: Sung⁴.

sunglasses

Origin

A compound of sun and glasses.

Sunil

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit सुनील (sunīla, “very black or blue, dark”); ultimately from सु (su) + नील (nīla).

sunlight

Old English

From Old English sunnan leoht, "light of the sun" — literally sun + light, joined together in Middle English.

sunly

Origin

From Middle English sonnelych, sunnelich, from Old English sunlīċ (“of the sun, solar”). Equivalent to sun + -ly.

sunn

Origin

Hindi सुनई (sunaī)

Sunni

Arabic

From Arabic sunniyy, from sunna ("tradition, custom") — those who follow the Sunnah, the traditions attributed to the Prophet.

sunnite

Origin

From sunnah + -ite.

sunny

Old English

From Old English sunnig, formed from sun plus the adjective ending -y.

Sunnyvale

Origin

From sunny + vale.

sunporch

Origin

From sun + porch.

sunray

Origin

From sun + ray.

sunrise

Middle English

From Middle English sonne-rys, literally "sun" + "rise" — the sun rising.

sunroof

Origin

A straightforward compound of sun + roof, describing a roof panel that lets sunlight in.

sunroom

Origin

From sun + room.

sunscreen

Origin

Formed from sun + screen — something that "screens" or shields the skin from the sun.

sunset

Middle English

From Middle English sonne-sett, literally the sun setting.

sunshade

Origin

From Middle English *sunschade, from Old English sunsċeadu, sunnsċeadu (“a veil, a sun-shade, a covering to keep off the sun”), equivalent to sun + shade.

sunshine

Middle English

From Middle English sunnesine, sun + shine.

sunshiny

Origin

From sunshine + -y. By surface analysis, sun + shine + y.

sunstroke

Origin

A compound of sun + stroke, describing a "stroke" (sudden collapse) brought on by the sun.

suntan

Origin

From sun + tan, tan referring to the browning of skin.

sunup

Origin

A simple compound of sun + up, describing the sun coming up.

suomi

Origin

Borrowed from Finnish Suomi.

sup

Old English

The eating sense comes from Old English supan, "to sip or drink"; the greeting is a modern clipping of "what's up".

super

Latin

From Latin super, meaning "above" — the same root behind words like superior and superb.

superaddition

Origin

From super- + addition.

superannuate

Origin

Back-formation from superannuated; Latin super "over" + annus "year"

superannuated

Origin

From the Latin superannuatus (“more than one year old”), from super (“over”) (English super-) + annus (“year”) (English annual).

superannuation

Latin

From Latin super- "beyond" and annus "year", by way of the medieval Latin superannuatus "more than a year old, worn out with age".

superb

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin superbus, "proud, magnificent" — related to super, "above".

superbly

Origin

From superb + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

superboy

Origin · 1945

From super- + boy, popularised by the DC Comics character Superboy, who first appeared in 1945.

superbrain

Origin

From super- + brain.

supercar

Origin

From super- + car, describing a car built to be far above ordinary performance.

supercomputer

Origin

From super- + computer.

supererogatory

Origin

From Latin superērogātōrius (“supererogatory”), from superērogātiō (“payment in addition”), from superērogō (“pay out over and above”), from super (“above”) + ērogō (“pay out, expend”); from ex (“out of, from”) + rogō (“ask; request”).

superfecta

Origin

Blend of super + perfecta.

superficial

Late Latin

From Late Latin superficialis, "of or relating to the surface", from superficies, "surface".