some

Etymology

From Middle English som, sum, from Old English sum (“some, a certain one”), from Proto-Germanic *sumaz (“some, a certain one”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, whole”). Cognate Scots sum, some (“some”), North Frisian som, sam, säm (“some”), West Frisian sommige, somlike (“some”), Low German somige (“some”), Dutch sommige (“some”), German dialectal summige (“some”), Danish somme (“some”), Swedish somlig (“some”), Norwegian sum, som (“some”), Icelandic sumur (“some”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌼𐍃 (sums, “one, someone”). More at same.

pron

1. A certain number, at least two.
   Some enjoy spicy food, others prefer it milder.
   Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements. 2013-07-19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18
2. An indefinite quantity.
   Can I have some of them?
3. An indefinite amount, a part.
   Please give me some of the cake.
   Everyone is wrong some of the time.

det

1. A certain proportion of, at least two.
   Some people like camping.
   Many people, especially some evangelical Christians, have been less than optimistic about the Potter influence. 2006, Charles H Lippy, Faith in America [Three Volumes] [3 Volumes]: Changes, Challenges, New Directions, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 73
   Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete. 2013-07-20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
2. An unspecified quantity or number of.
   Would you like some grapes?
   Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes. 2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
3. An unspecified amount of (something uncountable).
   Would you like some water?
   After some persuasion, he finally agreed.
4. A certain, an unspecified or unknown.
   I've just met some guy who said he knew you.
   The sequence S converges to zero for some initial value v.
   By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
   Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much. 2013-06-14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18
5. A considerable quantity or number of.
   He had edited the paper for some years.
   He stopped working some time ago.
6. approximately, about (with a number).
   She had been employed at that company for some five years now.
   There were only some three or four cars in the lot at the time.
7. (informal) A remarkable.
   He is some acrobat!

adv

1. Of a measurement: approximately, roughly.
   I guess he must have weighed some 90 kilos.
   Some 30,000 spectators witnessed the feat.
   Some 4,000 acres of land were flooded.
2. (dialect) To a certain extent, or for a certain period.
   They walked some and talked some. 2014, C. R. Scott, Invisible War: Attack the Covenant