-some


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical.

-some 1

suff.
Characterized by a specified quality, condition, or action: bothersome.
[Middle English -som, from Old English -sum, -like; see sem- in Indo-European roots.]

-some 2

suff.
A group of a specified number of members: threesome.
[Middle English -sum, from Old English sum, some; see some.]

-some 3

suff.
1. Body: centrosome.
2. Chromosome: monosome.
[From Greek sōma, body; see teuə- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-some

suffix forming adjectives
characterized by; tending to: awesome; tiresome.
[Old English -sum; related to Gothic -sama, German -sam]

-some

suffix forming nouns
indicating a group of a specified number of members: threesome.
[Old English sum, special use of some (determiner)]

-some

(-səʊm)
n combining form
a body: chromosome.
[from Greek sōma body]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

some

(sʌm; unstressed səm)

adj.
1. being an undetermined or unspecified one: Some person may object.
2. certain (used with plural nouns): Some days I stay home.
3. unspecified in number, amount, degree, etc.: to some extent.
4. unspecified but considerable in number, amount, degree, etc.: We talked for some time.
5. Informal. remarkable of its type: That was some storm.
pron.
6. certain persons, individuals, instances, etc., not specified: Some think he is dead.
7. an unspecified number, amount, etc., as distinguished from the rest or in addition: He paid a thousand dollars and then some.
adv.
8. approximately; about: Some 300 were present.
9. to some degree or extent: I like baseball some.
[before 900; Middle English (adj. and pronoun); Old English sum orig., someone, c. Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old High German sum, Old Norse sumr, Gothic sums]

-some1

,
an adjective-forming suffix, now unproductive, with the meanings “like,” “tending to”: burdensome; quarrelsome.
[Middle English; Old English -sum, c. Old Frisian -sum; akin to Old Saxon, Old High German -sam, Old Norse -samr, Gothic -sams]

-some2

,
a collective suffix used with numerals: threesome.
[Middle English -sum, Old English sum some (pronoun)]

-some3

,
a combining form used in the names of structures or regions of a cell (chromosome; ribosome), chromosomes (autosome), or organisms having the form specified by the initial element (schistosome; trypanosome).
[< Greek sôma body; see soma1]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.