LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinevariously declined, second declension, fourth declension

sonus1

sonus m (genitive sonī or sonūs)
Classical[ˈsɔ.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈsɔː.nus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. sound, noise; pitch; speech
  2. figurativelytone, character, style
  3. figurativelyvoice, tongue
    Nunc mihi mīlle sonōsNow [grant] to me a thousand voices Now I could wish for a thousand tongues8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 2.119

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quod auribus audītur; vōx et clāmor sonī sunt.
sonus -ī m — in Mille Verba, Corpus Hūmānum

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativesonussonī
sonūs
genitivesonī
sonūs		sonōrum
sonuum
dativesonō
sonuī		sonīs
sonibus
accusativesonumsonōs
sonūs
ablativesonō
sonū		sonīs
sonibus
vocativesone
sonus		sonī
sonūs

sŏnus, i (collat. form sŏnus, ūs, in
I. gen., Amm. 20, 4, 14; abl. sonu, Sisenn. ap. Non. p. 491, 27; App. M. 8, p. 216, 7; nom. plur., Amm. 22, 9, 15), m. sono, a noise, sound (syn. fragor): et pereunte viro raucum sonus aere cucurrit, Enn. ap. Lact. ap. Stat. Th. 11, 56 (Ann. v. 509 Vahl.): tympana raucis Obstrepuere sonis, Ov. M. 4, 392: non exaudito tubae sono, Caes. B. G. 7, 47: signorum sonus, id. B. C. 3, 105; cf.: cum ingenti sono fluminis, Liv. 21, 28: olli respondit suavis sonus Egeriai, Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 7, § 42 Müll. (Ann. v. 122 Vahl.): tantus et tam dulcis sonus, Cic. Rep. 6, 18, 18: distinctus, id. ib. 2, 42, 69: ab acutissimo sono usque ad gravissimum sonum, from the highest treble to the lowest bass, id. de Cr. 1, 59, 251: in tibiarum cantibus varietas sonorum, id. N. D. 2, 58, 146: (lingua) sonos vocis distinctos efficit, id. ib. 2, 59, 149: ad nervorum eliciendos sonos, id. ib. 2, 60, 150; Hor. A. P. 348: inpulit aures Confusae sonus urbis, Verg. A. 12, 619; Ov. F. 1, 434; Liv. 1, 28, 2; Cic. Or. 17, 57: inanes sonos fundere, to utter empty sounds, id. Tusc. 5, 26, 73 Kühn.—
II. Fig., tone, character, style: et in tragoediā comicum vitiosum est, et in comoediā turpe tragicum, et in ceteris suus est cuique certus sonus, Cic. Opt. Gen. 1, 1: unus enim sonus est totius orationis, id. Brut. 26, 100; id. de Or. 2, 12, 54.—
B. Of language, sonorousness: gravitas et cothurnus et sonus Sophocli, Quint. 10, 1, 68.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *swonos, from Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂os, from the root *swenh₂- (“to sound”). The lack of the sound change *mo- > *ma- in open syllabels is potentially because the syllable was closed before the word-medial laryngeal. De Vaan alternatively reconstructs earlier *swenos, though he does consider it possible that the term was deverbal form sonō, sonāre. Cognate with Proto-Germanic *swanaz.

Descendants
  • Catalanso
  • Italiansuono
  • Italiansono
  • Occitanson
  • Frenchsonfrom Old French son
  • Englishsoundfrom Old French son
  • Portuguesesom
  • Romaniansun
  • Sardiniansonu
  • Spanishson
proper noun · masculinesecond declension
Sōnus2
Sōnus m sg (genitive Sōnī)
Classical[ˈsɔ.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈsɔː.nus]

Meaning

  1. A tributary river of the Ganges, now the Son River

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeSōnus—
genitiveSōnī—
dativeSōnō—
accusativeSōnum—
ablativeSōnō—
vocativeSōne—

sōnus, a, um, adj. id.,
I. sounding, resounding, Isid. Orig. 1, 4, 4.
Sōnus, i, m., = Σῶνος,
I. a river of India, a branch of the Ganges, Plin. 6, 18, 22, § 65.

Origins

From Ancient Greek Σῶνος (Sônos).

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

GeographySonusSonus (Σῶνος, Arrian Ind. chap. 4; Plin. Nat. 6.18. s. 22), a principal affluent of the Ganges, which flows in a NE. direction to it from the Vindhya …

Quick answers

What does sonus mean in Latin?
sonus, a noun, means “sound, noise; pitch; speech”.
What is the genitive of sonus?
The genitive singular is sonī. sonus is masculine, variously declined, second declension, fourth declension.
How do you pronounce sonus?
In classical Latin, [ˈsɔ.nʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈsɔː.nus].