Where does “something” come from?
Something comes from Middle English somthing, from Old English sum þing, literally meaning "some thing."
something (English): An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing; A...
Definitions
- An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing; A...
Ancestry of “something”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | somþyng | something |
| 2 | Old English | sum | some |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *sum | some |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | sumaz | some (one), a certain (one) |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | sem- | together, one |
Words derived from “something”