someone English · revision 1787

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1305}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsʌm.wʌn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, [[af|enm|sum|oon|t1=some|t2=one]], Middle English [[m|enm|sum oon]];^(MWU 2024)^(Webster's Third 1961)^(Etymonline) see [[some]] and [[one]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A certain person, some person not named or not known (about 1305, written as two words).^(HTOED)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The phrase was written as two words, ''sum on'', from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and is not recorded as one word before the mid-19th century (by 1848).^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) The sense “a person of importance”, as in ''he really thinks he's someone'', is a later development that the dictionaries list as a separate sense.^(AHD)^(COED 2004) ''Someone else'' in the sense of “a romantic rival” is from 1914, a few years after ''somebody else'' in the same sense (1911).^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1305 – ''sum on'', some person.^(HTOED)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – written as one word.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – ''someone else'', a romantic rival.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Some person, unknown or not named; [[somebody]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person of importance or authority: ''keen to be someone''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[anybody]]

+ * [[anyone]]

+ * [[no one]]

+ * [[everyone]]

+ * [[something]]

+ * [[somebody]]

+ * [[somewhere]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Collins notes that ''someone'' and ''somebody'' are interchangeable, as are ''everyone'' and ''everybody'' and ''no-one'' and ''nobody''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}