some (English)
Where does "some" come from?
The English word 'some' descends through Middle English 'som' from Old English 'sum', meaning 'some, a certain one'[1][3]. This Old English term traces back through Proto-West Germanic '*sum' to Proto-Germanic '*sumaz', which meant 'some, a certain one'[1][3][5]. Ultimately, these Germanic forms originate from the Proto-Indo-European root '*sem-', meaning 'one, whole'[1][4].
Open questions
- The ultimate Proto-Indo-European ancestry is reconstructed from forms like '*sm̥-h₁-o-' derived from '*sem-'. [1] [4]
Full etymology tree
- some (English), 'Of a measurement: approximately, roughly.'
- inherited som (Middle English), 'some'
- inherited sum (Old English), 'some'
- inherited *sum (Proto-West Germanic), 'some'
- inherited *sumaz (Proto-Germanic), 'some (one), a certain (one)'
- inherited *sem- (Proto-Indo-European), 'together, one'
- inherited *sumaz (Proto-Germanic), 'some (one), a certain (one)'
- inherited *sum (Proto-West Germanic), 'some'
- inherited sum (Old English), 'some'
- inherited som (Middle English), 'some'
Ancestors
- *sem- (Proto-Indo-European)
- som (Middle English)
- sum (Old English)
- *sum (Proto-West Germanic)
- *sumaz (Proto-Germanic)
Cognates and doublets
- sømme (Danish)
- som (Dutch)
- sommige (Dutch)
- ‐ (German)
- 𐍃𐌿𐌼𐍃 (Gothic)
- sumur (Icelandic)
- somlig (Swedish)
Sources
- some (English) - Wiktionary
- sum (Old English) - Wiktionary
- som (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- sumaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- sum (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
Updated September 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris