sweostorsunu

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *swestersunu, from Proto-Germanic *swestērsunuz, equivalent to sweostor (“sister”) +‎ sunu (“son”). Compare Icelandic systursonur and Swedish systerson.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswe͜os.torˌsu.nu/

Noun

sweostorsunu m

1. sororal nephew
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     In þǣre þēode was in þā tīd Sǣberht cyning, Æðelberhtes swustorsunu ⁊ his hēra.

     At that time Seaberht was king of that province; he was the nephew and follower of Athelberht.

Declension

Strong u-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	sweostorsunu	sweostorsuna
accusative	sweostorsunu	sweostorsuna
genitive	sweostorsuna	sweostorsuna
dative	sweostorsuna	sweostorsunum

Related terms

• brōþorsunu (“fraternal nephew”)
• brōþordohtor (“fraternal niece”)

Descendants

• Middle English: sustersone, systerson, suster sune, suster sone, soster sone, sistur sun, sister sun
  • English: sisterson

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “sweostorsunu”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.