Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

-some

Origin

a native English suffix formerly used in the formation of adjectives: quarrelsome; burdensome.

Origin:
Middle English; Old English -sum; akin to Gothic -sama, German -sam; see same

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

-some is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Dictionary.com Unabridged

a collective suffix used with numerals: twosome; threesome.

Origin:
Middle English -sum, Old English sum; special use of some (pronoun)

a combining form meaning “body,” used in the formation of compound words: chromosome.

Also, -soma.

Origin:
< Greek sôma body; see soma¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To -some

Collins

World English Dictionary

-some¹

—*suffix forming adjectives*
	characterized by; tending to: awesome; tiresome

[Old English -sum; related to Gothic -sama, German -sam]

-some²

—*suffix forming nouns*
	indicating a group of a specified number of members: threesome

[Old English sum, special use of some (determiner)]

-some³ (-səʊm)

—*n combining form*
	a body: chromosome

[from Greek sōma body]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

-some

as a suffix forming adjectives, it represents O.E. -sum (see some; cf. O.Fris. -sum, Ger. -sam, O.N. -samr), related to sama "same." As a suffix added to numerals meaning "a group of that number" (cf. twosome) it represents O.E. sum "some," used after the genitive plural (cf.

EXPAND

sixa sum "six-some"), the inflection disappearing in M.E. Use of some with a number meaning "approximately" also was in O.E.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

-some suff.

Body: centrosome.
Chromosome: autosome.

Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com

Searching for -some? How many words do you actually know?

FIND OUT

Upgrade to Ad-free Premium Membership!

boresome bothersome bunglesome burdensome buxom centrosome

Matching Quote

"Emerson was the greater artist. His essays contain some of the most beautiful language in our literature. How Henry James could have thought he had never developed a "style" is to me one of the mysteries of criticism. Thoreau in Walden comes close to the master, but he falls behind in the homeliness of his details and in the occasional smugness of his social satire. It almost seems as if he were reacting against the chiseled beauty of Emerson's prose. The latter's sentences were so fine that he needed nothing else. They became, like marble statues, part of the garden that was Concord. Their composer, serene, calm, detached, bland in speech and manner, the soft-spoken philosopher revered by all, did not often trouble himself on his strolls in the woods and along the river to pluck the flowers or feed squirrels or even identify the different species of flora and fauna. As Thoreau observed, he wouldn't have been willing to trundle a wheelbarrow through the streets of Concord because it would have seemed out of character. Emerson communed with nature on a spiritual level, using his eyes to take in the landscape and his lungs the fresh air. He had no needs to brace himself with cold or rain or spend the night under the stars."

-Louis Auchincloss

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help