子息|しそくshisoku[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. noun(another's) sonoft. ご〜
   ご子息しそくのご結婚けっこんを心こころよりお祝いわい申し上もうしあげます。↗

   Please accept our heartiest congratulations on the marriage of your son.

• Synonym坊ちゃんぼっちゃんNeutralYoung master; also a friendly way to address another person's little boy (「坊ちゃん、おいくつ？」).
• Synonym息子むすこNeutralThe plain, most general word for son (「息子が二人いる」); carries no honorific tone.
• Synonymお坊ちゃんおぼっちゃんCasualColloquial: another person's boy or a rich family's young master; used affectionately or to mock a sheltered young man. 「子息」 is the formal term.
• SynonymせがれCasualColloquial and rather old-fashioned: mostly a humble word for one's own son (「うちの倅」), also another person's boy. 「子息」 is an honorific.
• Synonymご令息ごれいそくFormalFormal honorific for another person's son (「ご令息のご結婚」); solemn, used mainly in letters and speeches.
• Synonym息子さんむすこさんNeutralEveryday honorific for someone's son (「息子さんはお元気ですか」); the natural polite choice in daily conversation.
• Synonym令息れいそくWrittenWritten-style honorific for another person's son (「社長の令息」), often with 「ご」; 「子息」 is the more common of the two.
• Synonym愚息ぐそくWrittenWritten humble term for one's own son (「愚息がお世話になります」); 「子息」 is the respectful term for someone else's son.
• Antonym父母ふぼNeutralFather and mother (「父母の恩」); the counterpart of 「子息」 in the parent–son relationship.
• Antonym親おやNeutralParents (「親子」); stands opposite 「子息」.

Use 「子息」, usually as 「ご子息」, to refer formally to another person's son (「社長のご子息」). In everyday speech say 「息子さん」; in letters and speeches 「ご令息」. Humble terms for your own son are 「愚息」 and 「倅」. The plain everyday word is 「息子」; the opposite is 「親」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 他人たにんの子供こども。