Where does “someday” come from?

Someday derives from Middle English some day, combining some from Old English sumaz (Proto-Germanic for "partial amount") and day from Old English dæġ (Proto-Germanic dʰegʷʰ-, meaning "to burn" or "shine," referring to daylight).

someday (English): Sometime; at some unspecified time in the future

Definitions

  1. Sometime; at some unspecified time in the future

Ancestry of “someday”, step by step

someday traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English some

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsomeA certain number, at least two; An indefinite...
2Middle Englishsomsome
3Old Englishsumsome
4Proto-West Germanic*sumsome
5Proto-Germanicsumazsome (one), a certain (one)
6Proto-Indo-Europeansem-together, one

via English Day

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishDayderived from a medieval diminutive of David
2Middle Englishdayday; daylight, sunlight; epoch, age, period
3Old Englishdæġday, daytime
4Proto-West Germanicdagday
5Proto-Germanicdagazday; name of the D-rune
6Proto-Indo-Europeandʰegʷʰ-to burn; warm, hot
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sem- →Every word from Proto-Germanic sumaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic *sum →