-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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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Watts, a veteran of onscreen interiority, plays Iris, a stagnated writer and professor unable to make sense of the recent suicide of her mentor and best friend Walter, played by Bill Murray in some dryly funny opening scenes that in effect give us a chance to miss him too.

From

“Now, some people would like it that it never got blown up, that it just stayed in their own little basement, backyard, but that’s what really put punk rock on the map, the skaters, the surfers, the videos, the clothing, everything came out of that, it didn’t come out of these other areas.”

From

“It was nice to learn a lot about it, I was, among other people, fairly dismissive of Orange County punk for a long time, you’d think, ‘You live in a bucolic paradise compared to where some of the punk music’s coming from, what are you upset about?’

From

“Then you talk to some of the people and realize how bullied they were in school, or what a horrible, broken family they came from and realize there was a lot of things driving them — just being outcasts in a society that looks perfect doesn’t make you feel any less outcast.”

From

Some of the victims, the indictment alleges, were given IV fluids to recover.

From

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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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