English

Adjective

soon ‎(comparative sooner, superlative soonest)

1. Occurring within a short time, or quickly.
   • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:

     Soon after the arrival of Mrs. Campbell, dinner was announced by Abboye. He came into the drawing room resplendent in his gold-and-white turban. […] His cummerbund matched the turban in gold lines.

Adverb

soon ‎(comparative sooner, superlative soonest)

1. (obsolete) Immediately, instantly.
2. Within a short time; quickly.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     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.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     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.

   • 2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:

     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.

3. Early.
   • Bible, Exodus ii. 18

     How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?

4. Readily; willingly; used with would, or some other word expressing will.
   • Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

     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.

Derived terms

Translations

Statistics

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *sooni, from Proto-Uralic *sëne. Cognates include with Finnish suoni, Hungarian ín ‎(“sinew”).

Noun

soon ‎(genitive soone, partitive soont)

1. sinew

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Wolof

Etymology

From French jaune.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔːn/

Verb

soon

1. to be yellow