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== Etymology == The English word ''sun'' developed from [[Old English]] sunne. Cognates appear in other [[Germanic languages]], including [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] sinne, [[Dutch language|Dutch]] zon, [[Low German]] Sünn, [[Standard German]] Sonne, [[Bavarian language|Bavarian]] Sunna, [[Old Norse]] sunna, and [[Gothic language|Gothic]] sunnō. All these words stem from [[Proto-Germanic]] *sunnōn.<ref name="BARNHART776">{{Cite book |last=Barnhart |first=R. K. |title=The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology |year=1995 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-06-270084-1 |page=776}}</ref><ref name="Orel">{{cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|author-link=Vladimir Orel|year=2003|title=A Handbook of Germanic Etymology|page=[https://archive.org/details/Orel-AHandbookOfGermanicEtymology/mode/2up/search/sun 41]|url=https://archive.org/details/Orel-AHandbookOfGermanicEtymology/mode/2up|via=[[Internet Archive]]|publisher=Brill|place=Leiden|isbn=978-9-00-412875-0}}</ref> This is ultimately related to the word for ''sun'' in other branches of the [[Indo-European language]] family, though in most cases a [[nominative]] stem with an ''l'' is found, rather than the [[genitive]] stem in ''n'', as for example in [[Latin]] sōl, [[ancient Greek]] ἥλιος (hēlios), [[Welsh language|Welsh]] haul and [[Czech language|Czech]] slunce, as well as (with *l > ''r'') Sanskrit स्वर् (svár) and [[Persian language|Persian]] خور (xvar). Indeed, the ''l''-stem survived in Proto-Germanic as well, as *sōwelan,, which gave rise to Gothic sauil (alongside sunnō) and Old Norse prosaic sól (alongside poetic sunna), and through it the words for ''sun'' in the modern Scandinavian languages: [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[Danish language|Danish]] sol,, [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] sól,, etc.<ref name=Orel /> The principal adjectives for the Sun in English are ''sunny'' for sunlight and, in technical contexts, ''solar'' (/ˈsoʊlər/),<ref name="OED2">{{OED|solar}}</ref> from Latin .<ref>{{cite dictionary |last1=Little |first1=William |dictionary=Oxford Universal Dictionary on Historical Principles |last2=Fowler |first2=H. W. |last3=Coulson |first3=J. |year=1955 |edition=3rd |title=Sol |asin=B000QS3QVQ |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversald07litt |url-access=registration}}</ref> From the Greek helios comes the rare adjective ''heliac'' (/ˈhiːliæk/). In English, the Greek and Latin words occur in poetry as personifications of the Sun, [[Helios]] (/ˈhiːliəs/) and [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]] (/ˈsɒl/),<ref name="Lexico">{{Cite dictionary |title=Helios |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Helios |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327234645/https://www.lexico.com/definition/helios |archive-date=27 March 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="OED">{{OED|Sol}}</ref> while in science fiction ''Sol'' may be used to distinguish the Sun from other stars. The term ''[[Sol (day on Mars)|sol]]'' with a lowercase ''s'' is used by planetary astronomers for the duration of a [[solar day]] on another planet such as [[Mars]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 November 2006 |title=Opportunity's View, Sol 959 (Vertical) |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/pia01892.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022155351/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/pia01892.html |archive-date=22 October 2012 |access-date=1 August 2007 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref> The [[astronomical symbol]] for the Sun is a circle with a center dot, [[File:Sun symbol (fixed width).svg|16px|☉]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Clabon W. |author-link1=Clabon Allen |last2=Cox |first2=Arthur N. |editor-last=Cox |editor-first=Arthur N. |year=2000 |title=Allen's Astrophysical Quantities |page=2 |publisher=Springer |edition=4th |isbn=978-0-38-798746-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8PK2XFLLH8C|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> It is used for such units as ''M''<sub>☉</sub> ([[Solar mass]]), ''R''<sub>☉</sub> ([[Solar radius]]) and ''L''<sub>☉</sub> ([[Solar luminosity]]).<ref>{{Cite dictionary |title=solar mass |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100516843 |access-date=2024-05-26 |dictionary=Oxford Reference }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Weissman |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gmSOrXIQUEC&dq=%22solar+radius%22&pg=PA349 |title=Encyclopedia of the Solar System |last2=McFadden |first2=Lucy-Ann |last3=Johnson |first3=Torrence |date=1998-09-18 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-08-057313-7 |pages=349, 820}}</ref> The scientific study of the Sun is called ''heliology''.<ref>{{cite dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/heliology |title=heliology |publisher=Collins |dictionary=Collins Dictionary |access-date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
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