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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

some.

A certain number (multiple but not all).

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

pron/sʌm/Received-Pronunciation[sɐm]Received-Pronunciation/sʊm/Northern-England/sʌm/General-American
  1. A certain number (multiple but not all).

    Some enjoy spicy food, others prefer it milder.
  2. An indefinite quantity.

    Can I have some of them?
  3. An indefinite amount; a part. Used mostly with abstract and nonliving objects.

    Please give me some of the cake.
    Everyone is wrong some of the time.
  4. Someone, a certain person.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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.

det/sʌm/Received-Pronunciation[sɐm]Received-Pronunciation/sʊm/Northern-England/sʌm/General-American
  1. A nonzero, unspecified proportion of (a bounded set of countable things): at least two.

    Some people like camping.
  2. A nonzero, unspecified quantity or number of (an unbounded set of countable things).

    Would you like some grapes?
  3. An unspecified amount of (something uncountable).

    Would you like some water?
    After some persuasion, he finally agreed.
  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.
  5. A considerable quantity or number of.

    He had edited the paper for some years.
    He stopped working some time ago.
  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.
  7. Emphasizing a number.

    She has worked at the company for some five years now! How remarkable!
  8. A remarkable.

    informal
    He is some acrobat!
    That was some speech you gave!
Where this word comes from

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.

adv/sʌm/Received-Pronunciation[sɐm]Received-Pronunciation/sʊm/Northern-England/sʌm/General-American
  1. Of a measurement: approximately, roughly.

    not-comparable
    I guess he must have weighed some 90 kilos.
    Some 30,000 spectators witnessed the feat.
  2. To a certain extent, or for a certain period.

    dialectal · not-comparable
  3. Somewhat, a little.

    dialectal · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.