"S" Word Origins

somaclone

Origin

From soma (“the body excluding its germ cells”) + clone.

somaesthetics

Origin

Blend of somatic + aesthesis + -tics. Coined by the American philosopher Richard Shusterman.

Somali

Origin

From the Somali people's own name for themselves, Soomaali.

Somalia

Origin

From Somali, the name of the people, + the place-name suffix -ia.

somalian

Origin

From Somalia + -an.

somascope

Origin

From Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”) + -scope.

somatic

Greek

From Greek 'somatikos', from 'soma' meaning 'body'.

somatoform

Origin

From somato- + -form.

somber

French

From French 'sombre', meaning dark or gloomy, ultimately from Latin 'sub umbra', 'under shade'.

sombre

Latin

From French sombre, "dark", possibly from Latin sub- ("under") + umbra ("shade").

sombrero

Spanish

From Spanish sombrero, "hat", from sombra, "shade" — literally a "shade-maker".

some

Old English

From Old English sum, "a certain one", going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "one" or "whole".

somebody

Middle English

From Middle English sum body, literally "some body" — some + body.

someday

Origin

A fusion of some + day.

somehow

Origin

Formed from some + how.

someone

Middle English

From Middle English sum on, "some one".

someplace

Origin

Formed from some + place.

somersault

Latin

From an old French word for the same move, sombresault, which traces back through Occitan sobresalt to Latin suprā ("over") + saltus ("jump") — literally "an over-jump."

Somerset

Old English

From Old English Sumorsaete, meaning "settlers at the summer pastures."

somesthesis

Origin

Blend of somatic + esthesis.

something

Old English

From Old English sum þing, literally "some thing".

sometime

Middle English

From Middle English som time, "some time".

sometimes

Origin

From sometime + the adverbial suffix -s.

someway

Origin

Formed from some + way.

someways

Origin

From some + way. Compare anyways.

somewhat

Origin

Formed from some + what.

somewhen

Origin

From some + when.

somewhere

Origin

Formed from some + where.

sommelier

French

From French sommelier, originally someone in charge of pack animals carrying supplies, later a wine steward.

Sommer

German

As a surname, from the German, Danish, and Norwegian word for "summer"; as a slang interjection, an unrelated playful coinage.

somnambulation

Origin

From Latin somnus (“sleep”) + ambulatio (“a walking about”), from ambulare (“to walk”). See somnolent, amble.

somnambulist

Origin

Borrowed from French somnambuliste, from Medieval Latin somnambulus (“sleepwalker”). By surface analysis, somn- + -ambulist.

somnolent

Origin

First attested in 1615. Borrowed from French somnolent, from Old French sompnolent, from Latin somnolentus, from somnus (“sleep”).

son

Old English

From Old English sunu, "son", from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to give birth".

Sona

Origin

Borrowed from Armenian Սոնա (Sona).

sonar

Origin

A blend formed from "sound navigation and ranging" — coined the same way as its cousin "radar" (radio detection and ranging).

sonata

Latin

From Italian sonata, "something played" (as opposed to a cantata, "something sung"), from sonare, "to sound" — ultimately from Latin sonare.

sonder

English

A modern coinage from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a project by the writer John Koenig that invents words for unnamed feelings. It is not an inherited English word, though it echoes French 'sonder', to probe or sound out.

Sone

Korean · 2009

From the Korean word for "wish," referencing the group's 2009 song "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)."

song

Old English

From Old English sang, going back to a very old Germanic root meaning "to sing." Related to the German word Sang and the Dutch zang.

songbird

Origin

A straightforward compound of song + bird.

songer

Origin

Perhaps dialectally inherited from Middle English songere, from Old English sangere, from Proto-Germanic *sangwārijaz (“singer”), whence German Sänger, Dutch zanger etc. Equivalent to song + -er. Alternatively newly formed from these components.

songster

Origin

From Middle English songster, sangester, sangstere, from Old English sangestre (“a female singer; songstress”), equivalent to song + -ster. Cognate with Scots sangstar (“singer; songster”). Compare also West Frisian sjongster (“singer; female singer; vocalist”).

songstress

Origin

From songster + -ess. Compare West Frisian sjongeres (“songstress”), Dutch zangeres (“songstress”).

songwriter

Origin

From song + writer.

songwriting

Origin

From song + writing.

Sonia

Greek

A Slavic diminutive form derived ultimately from Greek Sophia, meaning "wisdom."

sonic

Latin

From Latin sonus, "sound," plus the adjective ending -ic.