Etymologically
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something

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sum thing, inherited from Old English sum þing (“a certain but unknown thing”),[2][3][4] from Old English sum + þing (see some and thing).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Some unspecified or indeterminate thing (c. 1000).[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The phrase was written with a hyphen from about 1300 and as one word from the 17th century.[2] From about 1200 it also meant a certain part or amount, often a small one, a slight trace.[2][6] It was formerly common as an adverb meaning “to some degree, rather” (13th century),[2][7][3] and in informal speech it now also means “extremely”, as in swears something awful.[3][8] The sense of some food or drink dates from the 1570s (1778 for to take something in the OED),[2][6] and that of a person or thing of importance from the 1580s.[2][4] Later uses include make something of (1778), or something (1814) and something for nothing (1816).[2][6] It stands in for a forgotten or unimportant name (1764),[6] and as a combining form -something it marks an unspecified age or number, as in thirty-something.[3][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – an unspecified thing.[6]
  • c. 1200 – a part or amount.[2][6]
  • 13th century – as an adverb, somewhat.[7][3]
  • 1570s – some food or drink.[2]
  • 1580s – a person or thing of importance.[2]
  • 1764 – a stand-in for a forgotten name.[6]
  • 1814 – or something.[2][6]
  • 1816 – something for nothing.[2]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

  1. A thing that is not specified, known or remembered.
  2. An amount or part, often a small one; a trace.
  3. A thing having much the same qualities as another, as in something of a poet.

Noun

  1. A remarkable or important person or thing.

Adverb

  1. Somewhat; to some degree.
  2. (informal) Extremely, as in something awful.

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin