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Etymology and origin of the English word -some

English has three suffixes spelled -some.[1][2][3] The first two are native and related to the words same and some, and the third is from Greek.[2][4][1]

-some1 characterized by

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Old English -sum via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *sem-

Pronunciation

Etymology

The adjective suffix is inherited from Middle English -som,[1] inherited from Old English -sum,[4][2][1][6][7] from Proto-Germanic *-samaz,[5] from *samaz, the source of same,[5][2][1] from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, as one”).[2] It is cognate with Old Frisian -sum and related by ablaut to Old Saxon -sam, Old High German -sam, German -sam, Dutch -zaam, Old Norse -samr, Swedish -sam and Danish -som.[4][6][2][7] Weekley was doubtful about the link with same.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English formed adjectives with it from nouns and adjectives, as in friðsum (“peaceful”) and langsum (“lasting”), and rarely from verbs.[4]

Semantic evolution

Only two or three of those Old English adjectives remain in use, chiefly winsome.[4][6] Middle English added new ones, some short-lived, such as lustsome, and others, mostly from the 14th century, lasting, such as cumbersome, fulsome, handsome, loathsome, noisome and wholesome.[4][6] The 16th century brought awesome and quarrelsome.[4][6] It is disguised in buxom, and in lissom according to Hoad.[4][6][2] The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, observes that it usually marks a considerable degree of the quality.[2]

Timeline

  • Old English – friðsum, langsum, wynsum.[4][6]
  • 14th century – cumbersome, gladsome, wholesome.[4]
  • 16th century – awesome, darksome, quarrelsome.[4]

Meanings

Suffix

  1. Forming adjectives that mean characterized by a thing, quality or action: burdensome, lonesome.[1][9][7]
  2. Forming adjectives that mean tending to do something or producing it: tiresome, fearsome.[9][7][2]

Word family

-some2 group of a number

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Old English sum via Middle English

Pronunciation

Etymology

The numeral suffix is inherited from Middle English -sum, northern Middle English,[1][3] inherited from Old English sum (“one, a certain one”), the source of some,[4][2][3][1][9][6] used after a numeral in the genitive plural.[4][2][3][6] Compare syxa sum, literally one of a group of six.[1][2][3] Old Frisian twirasum and Old Saxon fahora sum are parallel.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first recorded example in the OED is in the Cursor Mundi, before 1400.[4] In Middle English the inflection disappeared, and the pronoun was treated as a suffix on the numeral, chiefly the simple numbers from two to ten.[4][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Other examples are rare, and some may be written as a separate word.[4] Hoad says the use survives in descriptions of games or contests with that number of players.[6] SOED adds the American use on a numeral to mean about, as in thirty-some.[7]

Timeline

  • before 1400 – in the Cursor Mundi.[4]

Meanings

Suffix

  1. Forming nouns for a group of a given number, especially of people: twosome, foursome.[9][1][3]
  2. (US) Added to numerals to mean or so: forty-some.[7]

Word family

-some3 body

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Latin -soma
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σῶμα

Pronunciation

Etymology

The biological form is borrowed from New Latin -soma, from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”).[4][2][1][3][9] Barnhart reconstructs an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *tēu- (“to swell”) for it, with σῶς (sôs, “healthy”) and possibly Latin tumeō (“to swell”).[3] It is related to somato-.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is used for a body in general, and to form words for an intracellular particle, as in chromosome and ribosome.[4][7][3] It often stands specifically for chromosome, as in monosome.[7][1] The OED's first example for such a sense is from 1921.[4]

Timeline

Meanings

Suffix

  1. Forming nouns in biology for a small body or particle: ribosome, trophosome.[9][1][7]
  2. Used for chromosome in compounds: monosome.[1][7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“-some.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/-some. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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