Somewhat

sb. and adv. Forms: α. 3 sumhwat, -whet (Orm. summwhatt), 3–6 sumwhat (5 -whate, -wat(t, 6 -whatt); 4 sumquat, 5 -qwat, 6 Sc. -quhat; 3 somȝwat, 4–6 -whatt, 5–7 -what; 4 somwat, 5–6 -watt; 4– somewhat. β. dial. 8 sumet, 9 summat, summut, zum’ot, etc. [f. SOME a.¹ + WHAT pron. Down to the end of the 16th cent. written either as one word or as two.] = SOMETHING sb. and adv.

  A.  sb. 1. A certain amount, esp. in the way of statement, information, etc. Freq. with of (= concerning). Now arch.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 958. Summwhatt icc habbe shæwedd ȝuw Till ȝure sawle fode.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 506. Schaw sumwhet of ham, for hwi ha beon wurðe for to beon iwurðge.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1496. Spek we sumquat of caym kyn.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, I. 672. To thi help yet sumwhat can I say.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), vii. 27. Now hafe I schortly talde ȝow sum what of bawme.

1509.  Fisher, Funeral Serm. C’tess Richmond, Wks. (1876), 293. I wold reherce somwhat of her demeanyng in this behalue.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Ps. XXXIV. ii. Joyne with me, Somwhat to speake of his due praise.

1625.  Bacon, Ess., Of Cunning (Arb.), 441. It is strange, how long some Men will lie in wait, to speake somewhat, they desire to say.

a. 1715.  Burnet, Own Time (1753), I. 53. I will relate somewhat concerning the Earl of Antrim.

1801.  Strutt, Sports & Past., IV. ii. 274. Exasperated at somewhat his antagonist had said.

1819.  Byron, Juan, I. vii. Narrating somewhat of Don Juan’s father.

  b.  Some (material or immaterial) thing of unspecified nature, amount, etc. Now arch. or dial.

  α.  a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 44. So doð euer sumhwat þet god muwe þerof awakenen.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 54. He it nolde bi-leue, Ȝwane ani pouere man him bede, bote he him som-ȝwat ȝeue.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 3722. It bi-tokenes sum-what, treuli, god turne it to gode.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 210. In ech of hem he fint somwhat That pleseth him.

c. 1400.  Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), I. xv. 14. Late myn estate with som what be amendyd.

1484.  Caxton, Æsop, III. xvi. I deye for honger; gyue me somwhat to ete.

1526.  Tindale, 2 Cor. iv. 8. We are in povertie: but not utterly without somwhat.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 340. Such as were wicked … made a shewe as though they would do somewhat.

a. 1627.  Middleton, Witch, III. i. Nothing lives But has a joy in somewhat.

1693.  Dryden, Love Triumphant, II. i. I know not why, but somewhat prompts me To read this folded page.

1726.  Swift, Gulliver, I. viii. 134. I observed … somewhat that looked like a Boat overturned.

1797–1805.  S. & Ht. Lee, Cant. Tales, I. 13. He perceived somewhat glitter amid the grass.

1821.  Scott, Kenilw., xi. The tools were worth somewhat.

1842.  N. Hawthorne, in Longfellow’s Life (1891), I. 441. I have been looking to receive somewhat in the shape of a letter … from you.

1855.  Kingsley, Westw. Ho! xiv. Some folk say he’s not right in his head; or turned miser, or somewhat.

  Prov.  1542.  J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 24. Alwaie somwhat is better then nothyng. Ibid. (1562), Prov. & Epigr., 152. Boude wands serue for sumwhat.

  β.  1790.  Mrs. Wheeler, Westmld. Dial., 63. Yaurs may … seaav sumet agayn they er aud.

1838.  Jas. Grant, Sk. Lond., 39. There was no lack either of ‘summut’ to drink or ‘summut’ to eat.

1839.  in Latham, Hdbk. Eng. Lang. (1860), 148. Presently, zum ’ot … went dump!

1859.  Geo. Eliot, A. Bede (ed. 4), I. I. i. 8. A man must learn summat beside Gospel to make them things, I reckon.

  c.  Followed by an adjective.

1665.  Hooke, Microgr., 74. But insteed of meeting with what I look’d for, I met with somewhat more admirable.

1681.  Hobbes, Rhet., Pref. May be presumed to contain somewhat excellent.

1721.  Bradley, Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat., 4. The parts … are bound together by somewhat Oleaginous.

1751.  Eliza Heywood, Betsy Thoughtless, I. 3. Miss Betsy, who had … somewhat extremely engaging in her manner of behaviour.

1836.  Emerson, Nature, Spirit, Wks. (Bohn), II. 166. It is essential to a true theory of nature and of man, that it should contain somewhat progressive.

1850.  Robertson, Serm., 3rd Ser. ix. § 1. 125. [They] mistook the sensation for somewhat half divine.

  † d.  By somewhat, by a certain (small) amount.

1653.  W. Ramesey, Astrol. Restored (1654), 61. Yet he is the swifter of the two by somewhat.

  2.  With dependent genitive: Some part, portion, amount, etc., of something.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7587. So þat vewe contreies beþ in engelonde, Þat monekes nabbeþ of normandie somwat in hor honde.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4739. Len vs sumquat o þi sede, Was neuer ar sua mikel nede.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 22. Þer … a noþer chapelle standes, & somwhat of þat tre, þei bond vntille his handes.

c. 1400.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 69 (MS. α). In þis citee is somwhat of þat famous wal.

c. 1440.  Wycliffite Bible, Gen. xl. 4. Sumdel [v.r. sum whatt] of tyme passide.

1588.  Kyd, Househ. Phil., Wks. (1901), 267. It is thought there is somewhat of theyr dooings in his works.

1658.  W. Sanderson, Graphice, 33. Observe to hit the virtues of the Piece, and to refuse the Vices; for all Masters have somewhat of them both.

a. 1677.  Barrow, Serm., Wks. 1716, II. 71. Doth she not every where present spectacles of delight (somewhat of lively picture, somewhat of gay embroidery, somewhat of elegant symmetry).

1761.  Hume, Hist. Eng., III. liii. 147. By quitting somewhat of his royal prerogative.

1779.  Mirror, No. 10. 37. By that over-niceness…, they may mingle somewhat of disgust and uneasiness even in the highest and finest pleasures.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxvi. A conversation of which he could not help hearing somewhat.

1876.  Stedman, Vict. Poets, vi. 232. It must be acknowledged that somewhat of this applies to Tennyson’s variations upon Theocritus.

  b.  Const. of with a positive adj. Now rare.

1650.  Earl Monm., trans. Senault’s Man bec. Guilty, 36. Tis the desire of seeing somewhat of new which draws us forth.

1669.  Dryden, Tyrannic Love, I. i. Somewhat of mournful, sure, my ears does wound.

1751.  Eliza Heywood, Betsy Thoughtless, I. 12. These words, as it proved, had somewhat of prophetic in them.

1870.  N. Hawthorne, Eng. Note-bks. (1879), I. 273. With somewhat of fantastic in the shape of the clock-tower.

  c.  = SOMETHING sb. 2 c.

1841.  Helps, Ess., On Treatment of Suitors (1842), 110. You will naturally endeavour to give somewhat of a detailed explanation.

1863.  Mary Howitt, trans. F. Bremer’s Greece & Greeks, II. 3. It was somewhat of a surprise to me.

1868.  Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1877), II. 88. He was also somewhat of a time-server.

  3.  With limiting word or particle, as somewhat else, more, over, etc.

  (a)  1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 96. As thogh I hadde lost a Ring Or somwhat elles.

1580[?].  Lodge, Reply Gosson’s Sch. Abuse, Wks. (Grosart), I. 29. These things are not the chiefest poynts you shote at; thers somewhat els sticketh in your stomak.

1665.  J. North, in Extr. State P. rel. Friends (1912), III. 235. I haue some-what els to ymparte vnto you.

1736.  Ainsworth, I. s.v. Some, I must talk of somewhat else.

  (b)  1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxv. (1495), 925. The Suparticularis nombre conteyneth in comparison alle the lesse nombre and somwhat ouer.

1626.  B. Jonson, Staple of N., III. ii. You are a Courtier, Sir, or somewhat more.

c. 1643.  Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 16. I shall therefore only say somewhat more of my mother.

  b.  Somewhat between, = SOMETHING sb. 1 d.

1823.  Scott, Quentin D., xxii. His gesture … was noble, and at the same time resigned, somewhat between the bearing of a feudal noble and of a Christian martyr.

  4.  A thing, quality, etc., worth considering or regarding; a person of note or importance.

1382.  Wyclif, Gal. ii. 6. Forsoth thei that weren seen for to be sumwhat, no thing to me ȝauen to gidere.

1526.  Tindale, Gal. vi. 3. Iff a man seme to hym silfe that he is somwhat when in dede he is nothynge.

1663.  Dryden, Wild Gallant, IV. ii. Nay, the fool is a handsome fool, that’s somewhat.

1838.  Lowell, Lett. (1894), I. 32. It were a strange thing indeed if there were not somewhat in such men as Milton, Sidney [etc.].

1842.  Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylites, 124. They think that I am somewhat…. The silly people take me for a saint.

1859.  Masson, Milton, I. 721. The living society of a place is also somewhat.

  † b.  Of somewhat, for some purpose. Obs.^–1

a. 1400.  Sir Perc., 854. It servede hym of somwhatt The wylde fyre that he gatt.

  5.  With a, the, etc., and pl. A certain undefined or unknown thing, quality, amount, etc.

1598.  R. Bernard, trans. Terence (1607), 30. ‘In the meane season I hope some-what may be done.’… ‘That some-what will prove just nothing.’

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 210. Pretty Somewhats they would meane, but sure They understand not themselves any more than I do.

1685.  Gracian’s Courtiers Orac., 220–1. Several men would be great, if they wanted not a somewhat, without which they never attain to the height of perfection.

1795.  Mrs. Hughes, Jemima, I. 218. He has a somewhat in his voice, his words, his air, so pleasant.

1806.  H. Siddons, Maid, Wife, & Widow, II. 247. A habit of delivering his sentiments with a somewhat of more than dictatorial petulance.

1857.  J. Raine, Mem. J. Hodgson, I. 126. Sending to Hodgson a somewhat which he had left behind him.

  b.  With preceding adj.

1685.  Gracian’s Courtiers Orac., 117. The secret charm, or the unexpressible somewhat; which the French call Le Je-ne-sai-quoi.

1710.  Berkeley, Princ. Hum. Knowl., § 80. Matter is an unknown somewhat—neither substance nor accident.

1785.  M. Cutler, in Life, etc. (1888), II. 229. I now believe, at least, that there is a certain somewhat, which produced a rotary motion in a sword.

1827.  Coleridge, Table-t., 30 Aug. Painting is the intermediate somewhat between a thought and a thing.

1855.  Browning, One Word More, ix. Thus achievement lacks a gracious somewhat.

  c.  Const. of or with adj. following.

1817.  Keatinge, Trav. (1817), I. 272. Still here attaches … a somewhat of disgraceful to the idea of intoxication.

1825.  Scott, Fam. Lett., II. 354. They require the atmosphere of a cigar and the amalgam of a summat comfortable.

a. 1858.  R. A. Vaughan, Ess. & Rem. (1858), I. 50. A somewhat of their spirit of love … he found ever afterwards indispensable to his heart.

  B.  adv. In a certain degree or measure; to some (slight or small) extent; slightly, a little; rather.

  1.  a. Qualifying a verb.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 16882. Þærþurrh wass sene þatt he þa Summwhatt bigunnenn haffde To lefenn o þe Laferrd Crist.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., Prol. 71 (Fairf.). Ye be diligent To forthren me somwhat in my labour.

c. 1410.  Sir Cleges, 147. Jn with hyr he gan goo, And sumwatt mendyd hys chere.

c. 1449.  Partonope, 4915. To her suster dyd she spek And somwhat her hert to her breke.

1526.  Tindale, Acts xxvi. 28. Sumwhatt thou bryngest me in mynde for to be come christen.

1577–82.  Breton, Flourish upon Fancie, Wks. (Grosart), I. 17/2. These Drugges,… though they sumwhat please the tast, yet make the bosom stinke.

1646.  Gaule, Sel. Cas., 56. Hereupon it hath been somwhat dissented.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 308/1. The short Graver, which turneth up somewhat at the end.

1780.  Mirror, No. 82. 326. Sir George Rodney’s success has somewhat lessened their force.

1812.  Cary, Dante, Parad., II. 53. She somewhat smiled.

1877.  J. D. Chambers, Divine Worship, 389. The Forms of these ejaculations varied somewhat.

  b.  Qualifying a preposition.

1492.  Hen. VII., Lett., in G. Griffiths, Hist. Tong (1894), 224. Desiring you that somwhat bifor the said tyme ye wol addresse you unto us.

1600.  in Ingleby, Shaks. Cent. Praise (Shaks. Soc.), 35. Somwhat before the play began.

1735.  Johnson, trans. Lobo’s Voy. to Abyssinia, viii. 91. To drink somewhat beyond the bounds of exact Temperance.

1756.  C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, I. 10. Spirit of nitre consists of somewhat above one fourth of pure acid, and somewhat less than three fourths water.

1819.  Byron, Juan, I. i. Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time.

  c.  Somewhat as, in much the same way, to some extent, as.

1872.  Morley, Voltaire (1886), 1. We may think of Voltairism in France, somewhat as we think of Catholicism.

1894.  Crockett, Stickit Minister, 16. It ran or rather hirpled somewhat as follows.

  2.  Qualifying an adjective, adverb or clause.

  (a)  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 11054. Þat mensking þam bi-tuin, Was sum-quat diuers, als i wene.

c. 1384.  Chaucer, H. Fame, 1097. But for the ryme ys lyght and lewed Yit make hyt sumwhat agreable.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 48. It þat ilke mater be not hard but sumwhat neische.

1466.  Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.), 324. For a sadelle sumwhat worne, ij.s. viij.d.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, xliii. 144. His coloure was sum what pale.

1595.  in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ., V. 335. His vtterance was somwhat vnready.

1667.  Dryden & Dk. Newcastle, Sir M. Mar-all, V. ii. Would I were hanged if it be not somewhat probable.

1750.  trans. Leonardus’ Mirr. Stones, 92. Cambnites, is a Stone of a crystal Colour somewhat obscure.

1780.  Mirror, No. 105. 420. Somewhat akin to the lovers of detraction are the offence-takers.

1826.  Art of Brewing (ed. 2), 15. Their practice is governed by principles somewhat different.

1885.  Manch. Exam., 12 May, 5/2. It would seem … that the struggle was somewhat indecisive.

  (b)  1542.  Boorde, Dyetary, iv. (1870), 238. The seller vnder the pantry, sette somwhat abase.

1592.  Kyd, Murther. I. Brewen, Wks. (1901), 290. When it drew some what late.

1637.  Milton, Lycidas, 17. Begin, and som what loudly sweep the string.

1797–1805.  S. & Ht. Lee, Cant. T., I. 195. One, who, having somewhat unexpectedly succeeded to the family title.

1851.  Mrs. Browning, Casa Guidi Wind., II. 478. If … we Are counted somewhat deeply in their debt.

1869.  Ruskin, Q. of Air, i. § 32. Somewhat saucily.

  (c)  1578.  Reg. Privy Council Scot., III. 35. Mony injurious wordis, sumquhat in contempt of our Soverane Lord.

1608.  E. Grimstone, Hist. France (1611), 457. A cunning woman, and some-what of her fathers humor.

1678.  Bunyan, Pilgr., I. 27. Now was Christian somwhat in a muse.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., ix. The hounds and huntsmen seemed somewhat at a stand.

1828.  Lytton, Pelham, liii. Somewhat of a lugubrious nature.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Berkeley, I. iii. 49. Martin looked somewhat at a loss for an answer, till his wife supplied him with one.

  b.  With a comparative adj. or adv.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), xi. 46. It es sumwhat hyer þan oþer placez of þe citee.

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Auian, xxii. I blowe in hit for to haue it somwhat more cold than hit is.

1514.  Barclay, Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.), 6. And somwhat wyser be they also than we.

1597.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lv. § 5. Somewhat more plainly, to shew a true immediate reason … we acknowledge [etc.].

1600.  J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, VI. 275. The men of this place are black, but the women are somewhat fairer.

1696.  Whiston, Th. Earth, IV. (1722), 317. The Lower Earthy Strata would be settling somewhat closer together.

1768.  Woman of Honor, III. 233. A range of thirteen chests, rather somewhat larger than the common size of the thousand-pound-ones for silver bullion.

1815.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 173. The pan being brought to somewhat more than a red heat.

1866.  Carlyle, in Mrs. C.’s Lett., III. 255. She … went home somewhat better.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 359. Tell me and the court, in somewhat plainer terms, what you mean!

  c.  With of the and a superlative adj. or adv.

1561.  T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, IV. (1577), Y vij b. Not to make wise to abhorre companie and talke, though somewhat of the wantonest.

1622.  Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., I. 30. I got me vp, (though somewhat of the latest) hungry, and drowsie, without knowing for a while, where I was.

1656.  Heylin, Surv. France, 218. The revenues of this Archbishoprick are somewhat of the meanest.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., xvi. Your morning-draught has been somewhat of the strongest.

  d.  With a or an inserted before the adj. (or sb.) qualified.

1588.  J. Read, trans. Arcæus’ Compend. Meth., 69 b. Barriga … receaued a wounde in his brest, with somewhat a long sword.

a. 1646.  Gregory, Posthuma (1650), 198. This was somwhat a tolerable impietie, for such great Astronomers to adore the Host of Heaven.

1680.  R. L’Estrange, Erasm. Colloq., 79. [He] may vouchsafe his Assistance also unto us, who are somewhat a larger Congregation.

1779.  Johnson, Drake, Wks. 1787, IV. 417. Being obliged by this accident to somewhat a longer residence among the Moors.

1817.  Whewell, in Mrs. S. Douglas, Life (1881), 25. I must acknowledge myself somewhat an idle correspondent so far as writing goes.

1891.  Anne Mozley, Lett. J. H. Newman, I. iii. 103. There were certainly … definite points about him which made him somewhat a difficulty.

  e.  Preceded by an article or pron.

1779.  Mirror, No. 61. 241. The contempt in which, to a somewhat unreasonable degree, he holds modern refinement.

1820.  Scott, Monast., xxi. The cooling my somewhat too much inflamed visage.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 180. But her admonitions were given in a somewhat perfunctory manner.

  f.  Used as adj.

1819.  T. Moore, in Mem. (1853), II. 250. Lady Frances W. was to have come with them, but, to my somewhat disappointment, she had been called away.

  † 3.  Somewhat … somewhat, partly … partly.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 2. I wolde … wryte a bok betwen the tweie, Somewhat of lust, somewhat of lore.

c. 1400.  Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), I. xxx. (1859), 34. He is lettid by the wey somwhat by foly of hym self, somwhat by other.

a. 1425.  trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc. 38. Þai may ete and drynk and go, and somwhat sitte and somwhat slepe.

1552.  Latimer, Serm. (1607), 301. A king…, which was not their lawfull nor naturall king, but somewhat with craft and subtilty, and somewhat with power had gotten the Crowne.

  † 4.  Followed by with the and a superlative, = SOMETHING adv. 2 f. Obs. rare.

1542.  Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 252 b. The same Iulia begoonne somewhat with the soonest to haue whyte heares in hir hedde.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut., Pref. Ep. 2. Such discourse which might peraduenture be somewhat with the longest.

1610.  Holland, Camden’s Brit., 215. A small towne this is, standing somewhat with the lowest.

  5.  Somewhat like, in various senses (see LIKE a. 2 e, f).

1593.  G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super., Wks. (Grosart), II. 229. Though she were a lustie bounsing rampe somewhat like Gallamilla.

1611.  Cotgr., Bellastre,… passable, so so, somewhat like.

a. 1620.  J. Dyke, Serm. (1640), 379. If a man will sell a commodity, hee will sell it somewhat like, or hee will keepe it.

1662.  J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 165. It was somewhat like a Sturgeon, but was much whiter.

1748.  Richardson, Clarissa (1811), VI. 241. Why this is talking somewhat like.

1859.  Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, I. I. viii. 172. It’s summat-like to see such a man as that i’ the desk of a Sunday!

1890.  Science-Gossip, XXVI. 194. This is somewhat like the one examined by Schrötter.