-SOME Definition & Meaning

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-some

a native English suffix formerly used in the formation of adjectives:
quarrelsome; burdensome.

-some

a collective suffix used with numerals:
twosome; threesome.

-some

a combining form meaning “body,” used in the formation of compound words:
chromosome.

some

⁴

[ suhm; unstressed suhm ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

being an undetermined or unspecified one:
Some person may object.
(used with plural nouns) certain:
Some days I stay home.
of a certain unspecified number, amount, degree, etc.:
to some extent.
unspecified but considerable in number, amount, degree, etc.:
We talked for some time. He was here some weeks.
Informal. of impressive or remarkable quality, consequence, extent, etc.:
That was some storm.

pronoun

certain persons, individuals, instances, etc., not specified:
Some think he is dead.
an unspecified number, amount, etc., as distinguished from the rest or in addition:
He paid a thousand dollars and then some.

adverb

(used with numerals and with words expressing degree, extent, etc.) approximately; about:
Some 300 were present.
Informal. to some degree or extent; somewhat:
I like baseball some. She is feeling some better today.
Informal. to a great degree or extent; considerably:
That's going some.

some

/ səm; sʌm /

determiner

1. (a) certain unknown or unspecified
  some people never learn
  some lunatic drove into my car
2. ( as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural )
  some can teach and others can't
1. an unknown or unspecified quantity or amount of
  he owns some horses
  there's some rice on the table
2. ( as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural )
  we'll buy some
1. a considerable number or amount of
  he lived some years afterwards
2. a little
  show him some respect
informal.
usually stressed an impressive or remarkable
that was some game!
a certain amount (more) (in the phrases some more and (informal) and then some )
about; approximately
he owes me some thirty pounds

adverb

not_standard.
to a certain degree or extent
I guess I like him some

-some

suffix forming adjectives

characterized by; tending to
tiresome
awesome

-some

suffix forming nouns

indicating a group of a specified number of members
threesome

-some

⁴

/ -��əʊ�� /

combining form

a body
chromosome

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Confusables Note

As pronouns, both some and any may be used in affirmative or negative questions: Will you ( won't you ) have some? Do you ( don't you ) have any? But some is used in affirmative statements and answers: You may have some. Yes, I'd like some. And in negative statements and answers, any is the usual choice: I don't care for any. No, I can't take any.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of -some¹

Middle English; Old English -sum; akin to Gothic -sama, German -sam; same

Origin of -some²

Middle English -sum, Old English sum; special use of some (pronoun)

Origin of -some³

< Greek ��ô�� body; soma ¹

Origin of -some⁴

First recorded before 900; Middle English (adjective and pronoun); Old English sum originally, “someone”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle High German sum, Old Norse sumr, Gothic sums

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of -some¹

Old English sum; related to Old Norse sumr, Gothic sums, Old High German sum some, Sanskrit ��á any, Greek �󲹳�ŧ somehow

Origin of -some²

Old English -sum; related to Gothic -sama, German -sam

Origin of -some³

Old English sum, special use of some (determiner)

Origin of -some⁴

from Greek ��ō�� body

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Idioms and Phrases

see and then some ; catch some rays ; catch some z's ; dig up (some dirt) ; in a (some) sense ; in some measure ; one of these days (some day) ; take some doing ; to some degree ; win some, lose some .

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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