some
detEtymology
From Middle English som, sum, from Old English sum (“some, a certain one”), from Proto-West Germanic *sum, from Proto-Germanic *sumaz (“some, a certain one”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, whole”). Cognate Scots sum, some (“some”), North Frisian som, sam, säm (“some”), West Frisian sommige, somlike (“some”), dialectal Dutch som, saom (“some”), standard Dutch sommige (“some”), Low German somige (“some”), German dialectal summige (“some”), Danish somme (“some”), Swedish somlig (“some”), Norwegian sum, som (“some”), Icelandic sumur (“some”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌼𐍃 (sums, “one, someone”). More at same.
8 senses
- 1A nonzero, unspecified proportion of (a bounded set of…
- 2A nonzero, unspecified quantity or number of (an…
- 3An unspecified amount of (something uncountable).
- 4A certain, an unspecified or unknown.
- 5A considerable quantity or number of.
- 6Approximately, about (with a number).
- 7Emphasizing a number.
- 8A remarkable.
1
A nonzero, unspecified proportion of (a bounded set of countable things): at least two.
- Near-synonym: any
- Some people like camping.
3 more examples
- Many people, especially some evangelical Christians, have been less than optimistic about the Potter influence.2006, Charles H Lippy, Faith in America [Three Volumes] [3 Volumes]: Changes, Challenges, New Directions, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 73:
- Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2020:
- Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2015:
2
A nonzero, unspecified quantity or number of (an unbounded set of countable things).
- Near-synonym: any
- Would you like some grapes?
2 more examples
- The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.[…]Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 58–59:
- In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 364:
3
An unspecified amount of (something uncountable).
- Near-synonym: any
- Would you like some water?
2 more examples
- After some persuasion, he finally agreed.
- It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, jump upon a tram, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 130–131:
4
A certain, an unspecified or unknown.
- I've just met some guy who said he knew you.
- The sequence S converges to zero for some initial value v.
2 more examples
- By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
5
A considerable quantity or number of.
- He had edited the paper for some years.
- He stopped working some time ago.
2 more examples
- […] I took it, in the hope that it was not intended for early use, and would not be missed for some time.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter II, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 29:
- We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 15:
6
Approximately, about (with a number).
- She has worked at the company for some thirty years now. (31 and two months, to be exact.)
- There were only some three or four cars in the lot at the time.
2 more examples
- What other natural experiments might we have to test climate sensitivity? Another one that happens every year is the change in seasons. Winter predictably follows summer, being some fifteen degrees colder in the Northern Hemisphere and five degrees colder than summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The reason the Southern Hemisphere has a smaller seasonal cycle is because it has much more ocean than land,[…]2003, Richard N. Cooper, Richard Layard, What the Future Holds: Insights from Social Science, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 129:
- the local police, who, with the investigator, reportedly placed a compass near the two signs that had rattled and found a deviation of some fifteen degrees. Placed next to the Renault in which they had come, the compass showed a deviation of only four degrees, but there was no deviation at all near the sign that had not rattled.2023, J. Allen Hynek, The UFO Experience: Evidence Behind Close Encounters, Project Blue Book, and the Search for Answers, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 142:
7
Emphasizing a number.
- She has worked at the company for some five years now! How remarkable!
8
Informal A remarkable.
- He is some acrobat!
- That was some speech you gave!
- Derived terms
56 terms
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