Where does “-some” come from?

-some (Scots) comes from Middle English -som, from Old English sum, from Proto-West Germanic *sum, from Proto-Germanic sumaz, from Proto-Indo-European sem- — together, one.

-some (Scots): With nouns and verbs in an active and passive sense, implying “inclined to, full of, causing or caused by”

Definitions

  1. With nouns and verbs in an active and passive sense, implying “inclined to, full of, causing or caused by”

Ancestry of “-some”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle English-somsome; having a specific quality
2Old Englishsumsome
3Proto-West Germanic*sumsome
4Proto-Germanicsumazsome (one), a certain (one)
5Proto-Indo-Europeansem-together, one

Words derived from “-some

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sem-Every word from Proto-Germanic sumazEvery word from Proto-West Germanic *sum