English

-some

/səm/
Characterized by some specific condition or quality, usually to a considerable degree.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English -som, -sum, from Old English -sum (“same as; -some”), from Proto-West Germanic *-sam, from Proto-Germanic *-samaz, from Proto-Germanic *samaz (“same”). Akin to Saterland Frisian -soam (“-some”), West Frisian -sum (“-some”), Dutch -zaam (“-some”), German Low German -saam (“-some”), German -sam (“-some”), Danish -som, Swedish -sam, Icelandic -samur (“-some”), Gothic -𐍃𐌰𐌼𐍃 (-sams), -𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰 (-sama). Cognate with Albanian -shëm (“-some”). More at same, some.

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English -som, from a specialized use of Old English sum (“some, one”) coming after a genitive plural (e.g. hē wæs fēowertiga sum --"he was one of forty", literally "he was forties' some[one]"; sixa sum --"one of six, sixsome").

    Etymology 3

    Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”). For the "chromosome" sense, by analogy with chromosome.

    Etymology 4

    From some in its "approximately" sense; more at some § Etymology.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle English-som
      • inheritedOld English-sum
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*-sam
    • learned borrowingAncient Greekσῶμα “body”
      • inheritedProto-Hellenic*twṓmə
      • inheritedProto-Hellenic*styṓmə
    • derivedEnglishsome “A certain number (multiple but not all).”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishsom
        • inheritedOld Englishsum “some, a certain one”

    Related: Saterland Frisian -soam, West Frisian -sum, Dutch -zaam, German Low German -saam, German -sam, Danish -som, Swedish -sam, Icelandic -samur, Gothic -𐍃𐌰𐌼𐍃, Albanian -shëm

    Sources