something
pronoun
- an uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/ / [ˈsɐm(p)θɪŋ] / [ˈsʌm(p)θɪŋ]
adj
Etymology: From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).
- Having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify.
“"Very poetic." They came to a halt before the outer door. "It's very something," Rusty said wistfully. "How do you do it?"”
“"It's very — it's very something," said Lucy. "It's a kind of love-letter, isn't it?"”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).
- Somewhat; to a degree.
“The baby looks something like his father.”
“Angelo. Yet giue leaue (my Lord,) That we may bring you something on the way”
- Used to adverbialise a following adjective
“I miss them something terrible/rotten. (I miss them terribly)”
“You can't thrash when you have rheumatic fever – though you want to something awful, Mrs. White says.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).
- An object whose nature is yet to be defined.
“Yea, ’t is true; I ’d know thee by thine eyen, that are gray, and thoughtful, and dark with a something that lies behind the colour of them,—and shining by the light of a lamp lit somewhere within.”
“From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.”
- An object whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g., from words of a song. Also used to refer to an object earlier indefinitely referred to as 'something' (pronoun sense).
“What was the something the pilot saw, the something worth killing for?”
“2004, Theron Q Dumont, The Master Mind http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0766185435&id=-n_jW7BVfawC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&sig=ou-CrIyWbKyZQ0s3q0uaJTiHdsI Moreover, in all of our experience with these sense impressions, we never lose sight of the fact that they are but incidental facts of our mental existence, and that there is a Something Within which is really the Subject of these sense reports—a Something to which these reports are presented, and which receives them.”
pron
Etymology: From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).
- An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.
“I must have forgotten to pack something, but I can't think what.”
“I have something for you in my bag.”
- A quality to a moderate degree.
“The performance was something of a disappointment.”
“That child is something of a genius.”
- A talent or quality that is difficult to specify.
“She has a certain something.”
- Somebody who or something that is superlative or notable in some way.
“He's really something! I've never heard such a great voice.”
“She's quite something. I can't believe she would do such a mean thing.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).
- Designates an action whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g. from words of a song.
“1890, William Dean Howells, A Hazard of New Fortunes http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0140439234&id=IOZeJi7U4eEC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&sig=LW2P-uKmoZabe70ZKnIHIMQLXlw He didn’t apply for it for a long time, and then there was a hitch about it, and it was somethinged—vetoed, I believe she said.”
“2003, George Angel, “Allegoady,” in Juncture, Lara Stapleton and Veronica Gonzalez edd. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN1887128913&id=qB-D32yV1VAC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&sig=9AYyYLA-MQqTgAbptreoe3VyOzQ She hovers over the something somethinging and awkwardly lowers her bulk.”