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-some

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-some¹

  • /səm/

Where it comes from

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.

suffix more -some · most -some

  1. morpheme, verb, forms adjectives from nouns Characterized by some specific condition or quality, usually to a considerable degree. Elsewhere the blingsome silver-beveled mirrors, butterfly and lotus blossom motifs, and the occasional chaise longue make the opulence a touch on the show-off side for me, but the expenses were obviously 5-star and it's undoubtedly bespoke.
  2. morpheme, nonstandard, regional Used to form adverbs from adjectives. I'll try and do it real quietsome.

-some²

  • /səm/

Where it comes from

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").

suffix -somes

  1. morpheme, forms nouns from numerals Denoting a group with a certain number of members.

-some³

  • /soʊm/

Where it comes from

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

suffix -somes

  1. in compounds, morpheme, noun Body.
  2. in compounds, morpheme, noun Chromosome.

-some⁴

  • /səm/

Where it comes from

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

suffix

  1. morpheme Plus some indeterminate fraction not amounting to the next higher round number or significant digit; and change; -odd. twenty-some identifiable factors affecting the outcome

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MLA

"-some." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/-some. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

-some. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/-some

Chicago

"-some." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/-some.

BibTeX
@misc{some_2026,
  title = {-some},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-some},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}