something

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”).

pron

1. 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.
   I have a feeling something good is going to happen today.
   The answer to four down is P something T something Y.
   She looked thirty-something. (anything from thirty-one to thirty-nine years old)
   Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around. 2013-06-28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
2. (colloquial, of someone or something) A quality to a moderate degree.
   The performance was something of a disappointment.
   That child is something of a genius.
   Christensen, who also edited and co-wrote the film, is becoming something of a specialist in child horror, having launched his feature directorial career with the infant-themed Still/Born in 2017. 2020-5-7, Katie Rife, “If you’re looking to jump in your seat, make a playdate with Z”, in The Onion AV Club
3. (colloquial, of a person) A talent or quality that is difficult to specify.
   She has a certain something.
4. (colloquial, often with really or quite) 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.
   Some marmosets are less than six inches tall. —Well, isn't that something?

adj

1. 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?" 1986, Marie Nicole, Foxy Lady, page 20
   "It's very — it's very something," said Lucy. "It's a kind of love-letter, isn't it?" 1988, Colleen Klein, A Space for Delight, page 200
   If it isn't large, I certainly can't say it's small. But it's very something. 2014, Sommer Nectarhoff, A Buck in the Snow
   'How proud they have become,' I said, 'how disobedient. I must say, all in all, it's very something.' 2015, Edward Carey, Lungdon

adv

1. (degree) Somewhat; to a degree.
   The baby looks something like his father.
2. (colloquial, especially in certain set combinations) Used to adverbialise a following adjective
   I miss them something terrible. (I miss them terribly)
   Seeing him here, though, I all of a sudden feel more like I been gone from home three years, instead of three weeks, and I miss my people something fierce. 1994 Summer, Rebecca T. Goodwin, “Keeper of the house”, in Paris Review, volume 36, number 131, page 161
   And then she put the coffin right out on her front porch. Jim told everyone he'd built it kind of roomy since Bobby Lee was on the stout side, but that it better get used quick because sycamore tends to warp something terrible. 2001 January, Susan Schorn, “Bobby Lee Carter and the hand of God”, in U.S. Catholic, volume 66, number 1, page 34

verb

1. 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.
   2005, Floyd Skloot, A World of Light http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0803243189&id=TEgRGe6FiTkC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&sig=zEj4BPQ0eEFkj6LdOI8eRJlZrzE “Oh how we somethinged on the hmmm hmm we were wed. Dear, was I ever on the stage?”

noun

1. An object whose nature is yet to be defined.
   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. 2013-06-08, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
2. 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? 1999, Nicholas Clapp, The Road to Ubar http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0395957869&id=3ikdzDKkQ04C&pg=PA104&lpg=PA104&sig=UNimtwdgeC_w_wqGXfa4LsCDik8
   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.
   2004, Ira Levin, The Stepford Wives http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0060738197&id=rKeKLf7LeXAC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&sig=uAeyLuj-HYk1dLAme_rokCWQITc She wiped something with a cloth, wiped at the wall shelf, and put the something on it, clinking glass.