soon
Part of speech: adj
adv
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English sone, from Old English sōna (“immediately, at once”), from Proto-West Germanic *sān(ō), from Proto-Germanic *sēna, *sēnô (“immediately, soon, then”), from *sa (demonstrative pronoun), from Proto-Indo-European *só (demonstrative pronoun).
Cognate with Scots sone, sune, schone (“soon, quickly, at once”), North Frisian san (“immediately, at once”), dialectal Dutch zaan (“soon, before long”), Middle Low German sân (“right afterwards, soon”), Middle High German sān, son (“soon, then”), Old High German sār (“immediately, soon”). Compare also Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐍃 (suns, “immediately, soon”), from Proto-Germanic *suniz (“soon”).
Inflected forms:
form: sooner
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: soonest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: sooner
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: soonest
pos: adv
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Short in length of time from the present.
pos: adj
examples: I need the soonest date you have available.
gloss: Early.
pos: adj
tags: US
dialectal
examples: Late in the evening we arrived at Quincy where we bivouacked for the night and taken a soon start the next morning to march to the arsenal.
Got up pretty early, ate a soon breakfast, had the sulky and was about to start to Newtown when it commenced raining..
They were different from colored folks who had to be out to get a soon start.
gloss: Used as an alternative to express 'to be going to' in the form 'to be soon to'.
pos: adj
examples: Hurry up, the wedding is soon to start!
A new shop is soon to be opened in this street.
gloss: Immediately, instantly.
pos: adv
tags: obsolete
gloss: Within a short time; quickly.
pos: adv
examples: His wife is likely to come too after him, but we just do not know how soon after.
I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly,[…], down the nave to the western door.[…]At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.
Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese[…]began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death.
gloss: Early.
pos: adv
tags: dialectal
examples: How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
“Been huntin’ fuh mah mule. Anybody seen ’im?” he asked.
“Seen ’im soon dis mornin’ over behind de school-house,” Lum said. “’’Bout ten o’clock or so. He musta been out all night tuh be way over dere dat early.”
gloss: Readily; willingly; used with would, or some other word expressing will.
pos: adv
examples: I would as soon see a river winding through woods or in meadows, as when it is tossed up in so many whimsical figures at Versailles.
Synonyms: anon
betimes
by and by
directly
dreckley
early
eftsoons
hastily
imminently
just now
momentarily
presently
promptly
pronto
quickly
rear
shortly
soon
tidely
Antonyms: behind time
eventually
immediately
on time
punctually
recently
someday
sometime
Related words: soon kueh
soon kway
prematurely
Derived words: a fool and his money are soon parted
a little pot is soon hot
any time soon
anytime soon
as soon as
as soon as look at someone
as soon as possible
eaten bread is soon forgotten
eftsoons
get well soon
just as soon as
none too soon
not a minute too soon
not a moment too soon
oversoon
real soon now
you soon
soon enough
sooner or later
soonish
soonly
soonness
soon-to-be
soon to follow
soon-to-wed
Soon™
speak too soon
too soon
Translations: