some

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English som,^[2][3] inherited from Old English sum (“a certain one; some”),^[2][4][5][6] inherited from Proto-Germanic *sumaz,^[2][1][5][7] from a suffixed zero-grade form of Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; as one, together with”).^[2][8] Hoad writes the Indo-European form *sṃos.^[5] It is cognate with Old Frisian sum, Old Saxon sum, Old High German sum, Old Norse sumr and Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌼𐍃 (sums),^[8][4][9][5] and outside Germanic with Ancient Greek ἁμόθεν (hamóthen, “from some place”).^[8] In most other Germanic languages it now survives only in dialects or in derivatives such as Dutch sommige.^[8][4][7] It is related to same.^[5][7][3] The spelling with o for u is the same as in come.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A certain one; some: Old English sum, about 725 in Beowulf.^[4][8] Etymonline glosses the Old English word "some, a, a certain one, something, a certain quantity; a certain indefinite number", as in some say.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the word, placed before numbers, meant "one of", as in sum feowra, one of four; this use survives as the adverb "about" before numerals.^[2] As a pronoun, "a certain quantity or number", it is recorded from about 1100,^[2] and the Peterborough Chronicle has the inflected sumne in 1102.^[4] The sense "someone", used alone, lasted from Old English to 1835, and "one of" after an ordinal number from about 1225 to 1500.^[8] The adverb "somewhat, to some degree" is recorded from about 1280,^[4] and in the sense "in some degree" it is American English by 1745; the colloquial "remarkable, quite a" is American from 1808.^[2] Etymonline, quoting the OED, notes that the word has had greater currency in English than in the other Germanic languages.^[2][8] Many compounds, such as somewhat, sometime and somewhere, existed in Middle English but were often written as two words until the 17th to 19th centuries.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 725 – sum, a certain one, some, in Beowulf.^[4][8]
• 1102 – pronoun, in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[4] Etymonline dates the sense "a certain quantity or number" to about 1100.^[2]
• c. 1225 – after an ordinal number, one of (obsolete by 1500).^[8]
• c. 1280 – adverb, somewhat, to some degree.^[4]
• 1560s – a possessive form, still rare.^[2]
• 1745 – American English, in some degree.^[2]
• 1808 – American colloquial, remarkable, quite a.^[2]

Meanings

Determiner

1. An unspecified amount or number of: Buy some apples.^[10][3]
2. A certain unknown or unnamed: Some stranger left this for you.^[10]
3. A considerable number or amount of: She stayed for some years.^[10]
4. (informal) Remarkable, quite a: That was some storm.^[2][10]

Pronoun

1. Certain people or things, or an unspecified amount: Some agreed, others did not.^[10][8]

Adverb

1. About, approximately, before numbers: some forty guests.^[2][10]
2. (US, informal) To some degree, somewhat.^[2][4]

Word family

• somedeal
• someplace
• someway
• somewhere
• somewhile
• somewhither
• somewise
• somebody

Related words

• same
• similar
• simple
• seem

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins