somebody

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsʌm.bə.di/, US /ˈsʌmˌbɑː.di/^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of some and body, “person”,^[2][3] written separately in Middle English, sum body, and joined from the 16th century.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An unknown or unnamed person: 1303 in the OED,^[4] about 1300 in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A person of note or importance, often used sarcastically, is from before 1566,^[4] the 1560s in Etymonline.^[2] Used in place of a name that is not to be spoken, occasionally of the Devil, it is from about 1600.^[2][4] Somebody else, “some other person”, is from the 1640s,^[2] and in the sense “a romantic rival”, as in there is somebody else, from 1911.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1303 – an unknown person.^[4]
• before 1566 – an important person.^[4]
• c. 1600 – in place of a name.^[2]
• 1640s – somebody else.^[2]
• 1911 – a romantic rival.^[2][4]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

1. An unknown or unnamed person; someone.

Noun

1. A person of importance: she wanted to be somebody.

Related words

• nobody
• everybody
• anybody
• somewhere
• something
• some
• body
• someone

Usage notes

Somebody and someone are interchangeable.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster