Etymograph

English

Sony

Sony comes from Latin sonus ‘sound’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swónh₂osreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonus‘sound’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1980Sony

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swónh₂osreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonus‘sound’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1980Sony

Earliest quotation: 1980, Timothy Crouse, The Boys on the Bus: “Connie Chung, the pretty Chinese CBS correspondent, occupied the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’

re, personal, personnel, swan, resonance, resonate, resonant, parson, sonorous, consonance, 11 more

through Proto-Italic *swonos

resound, 4 more

through Latin sonus ‘sound’

sound, son, unison, sonnet, sone, 5 more

Today it means

name An international electronics and media company based in Tokyo, Japan.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- / Sony

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