somber, sombre (somber)

[= D. somber, formerly also sommer, 5765 Sombre, old, colonnaded aisles. Tennyson, The Daisy. 2. Dismal; melancholy; dull: opposed to cheerful. Whatever was poetical in the lives of the early New England ers had something shy, if not sombre, about it. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 232. =Syn. 1. Darksome, cloudy, murky. somber, sombre (som'ber), v. t.; pret. and pp. [ ne ; gloomine . The intense gloom which follows in the track of ennui deepened the natural sombrene of all men's thoughts. C. F. Keary, Prim. Belief, p. 508. sombre, etc. See somber, etc. sombrerite (som-bra'rīt), n. [ They rowe too and fro, and haue all their marchandizes in their boates, with a great Sombrero or shadow ouer their heads to keepe the sunne from them, which is as broad as a great cart wheele. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 258. Both were dre ed in the costume of the country - flannel shirts, with handkerchiefs loosely knotted round their necks, thick trousers and boots, and large sombreros. The Century, XXXIX. 525. Sombrero guano. Same as sombrerite. sombrous (som'brus), a. [ A certain uniform strain of sombrous gravity. T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, III. 171. Mixed with graceful birch, the sombrous pine And yew-tree o'er the silver rocks recline. Words worth, Evening Walk. sombrously (som'brus-li), adv. In a sombrous manner; gloomily; somberly. [Poetical.] sombrous ne (som'brus-nes), n. The state of being sombrous. somdelt, somdelet, adv. See somedeal. somel (sum), a. and pron. [Early mod. E. also som; about a hundred, etc.), pl. sume, some, = OS. sum = OFries. sum = MD. som MLG. som = OHG. MHG. sum = Icel. sumr = Dan. som me, pl., Goth. sums, some one; hence, with adj. formative, D. sommig = MLG. somich, summich, sommich = OFries. sum i like, somlike = Sw. som = lige, pl.; akin to same: see same.] I. a. 1. A; a certain; one: noting a person or thing inA; a ce definitely, either as unknown or as unspecifie unspecified. Ther was sum prest, Zacharie by name. Wyclif, Luke i. 5. Let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him. Gen. xxxvii. 20. Set swords against this breast, some honest man, For I have lived till I am pitied, Beau. and Fl., Phil aster, v. 5. On almost every point on which we are opposed to Mr. Gladstone we have on our side the authority of some divine. Macaulay , Gladstone on Church and State. In this sense often followed by a correlative other or an other. And so this vale is called the vale Ebron in some place therof, and in another place therof it is called the vale of Mambre. Sir R. Guylforde , Pylgrymage, p. 55. By some device or other The villain is o'er-raught of all my money. Shak., C. of E., i. 2. 95. Therefore, it was well said, "I nvidia festos dies non agit," for it is ever working upon some or other . Bacon , Envy (ed. 1887). By the meere bond of humane Nature, to God, in some or other Religion. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 31. There is scarce any thing so absurd, says an ancient, in nature or morality, but some philosopher or other has held Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, II. x. it. 2. A certain indefinite or indeterminate quantity or part of; more or le : often so used as to denote a small quantity or a deficiency: as, bring some water; eat some bread. And therfore wol I maken you disport, As I seyde erst, and don you som confort. Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. Т., 1. 776. some The annoyance of the dust, or else some meat You ate at dinner, cannot brook with you. Arden of Fever sham, iv. 2. It is some mercy when men kill with speed. Webster, Duche of Malfi. Let her who has no Hair, or has but some, Plant Centinels before her Dre ing-Room. Congreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love, iii. 3. In logic, at least one, perhaps all; but a few logicians sometimes employ a semi definite some which implies a part, but not all. As commonly used in logic, a statement about some of a cla , say that "some S is P," means that it is po ible so to select an S that it shall be P; while "every" S is P" means that whatever S be taken, it will be P. But when some and every occur in the same statement, it makes a difference which is chosen first. Thus, "every man knows some fact" may mean (1) that, first choosing any man, a fact may then be found which that man knows (which may be expre ed by saying that every man knows some fact or other); or it may mean (2) that a fact may be first selected such that, then, taking any man, he will know that fact (which may be expre ed by saying that all men know some certain fact). When several somes and alls occur in the same state precision, and logicians resort to a special notation. 4. A certain indefinite or indeterminate number of: used before plural substantives: as, some years ago. ordinary syntax fails to expre the meaning with They hurried us aboard a bark, Bore us some leagues to sea. Shak ., Tempest, i. 2. 145. The Lights at Paris, for 5 Months in the year only, cost 50000L. Sterling. This way of Lighting the Streets is in use also in some other Cities in France. Lister, Journey to Paris (1698), p. 24. Hence-5. A certain number of, stated approximately: in a quasi-adverbial use before a numeral or other word of number: as, a place some seventy miles distant; some four or five of us will be there. I would detain you here some month or two. Shak ., M. of V., iii. 2. 9. Some dozen Romans of us and your lord have mingled sums To buy a present for the emperor. Shak ., Cymbeline, i. 6. 185. We know That what was worn some twenty years ago Comes into grace again. Beau , and Fl ., Thierry and Theodoret, Prol. A distinguished foreigner, tall and handsome, some thirty-seven years of age, who had played no insignificant part in the affairs of France. E. Dowden , Shelley, I. 380. II. pron. 11. A certain person; one. Som man desireth for to have riche e, That cause is of his morthre or gret seekne e, And som wolde out of his prisoun fayn, That in his hous is of his mayne slayn. Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 397. 2. A certain quantity, part, or number, as distinguished from the rest: as, some of them are dead; we ate some of our provisions, and gave away the rest. Loo! he that so with, goth out to so we his seed. And the while he soweth, sum felden byside the we ye. lye downe, they can doe, both. Wyclif , Mat. xiii. 4. Though some report they [elephants] cannot kneele nor Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 49. That he might, if po ible, allure that Ble ed One to Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progre , i., Vanity Fair. cheapen and buy some of his vanities. In this sense some is very commonly repeated, some ...some (or, formerly, other some , as in Acts xvii. 18) meaning 'a number. others,' or 'the rest.' Summe were glad whanne the i him size, Summe were sory, sum me were fayne. Hymns to Virgin , etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 54. Some of these Tabernacles may quickely be taken asunder and set together againe.. Other some cannot be take in sunder. Hakluyt's Voyayes, I. 54. IMG:content-1527.png:[blocks in formation] Some, as originally used partitively with numbers (AS. feówra sum, one of four, etc.), has come to be an apparent distributive suffix, as in foursome, seven some. All and some. See all. By some and somet, bit by bit. You know, wife, when we met together, we had no great store of hous-hold stuff, but were fain to buy it afterward by some and some , as God sent money, and yet you see we want many things that are nece ary to be had. The Fifteen Comforts of Matrimony , n. d. ( Nares .) Semi definite some. See semi definite . somel (sum), adv. [ some2t, adv. and conj. [ME., also som, sum, some which, that; akin to same: see same, and cf. somel.] As; so; ever: used indefinitely after certain adverbs and pronouns, like so, soever. It remains in modern dialectal use in how some, what some, or how some ver, whatsomever, where some ver, etc., equiva lent to howsoever, whatsoever, wheresoever, etc. IMG:content-1528.png:[blocks in formation] Then the sly sheepe-biter i ued into the midst, and sometime (sum'tim), a. [ summersetted and fliptflappt it twenty times above ground Former; whilom; late. as light as a feather, and cried "Mitton." Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (Harl. Misc., VI. 164). In such extraordinary manner does dead Catholicism somerset and caper, skilfully galvanised. Carlyle, French Rev., II. iv. 2. Sum i the telle. Sir Amadace (Early Eng. Metr. Rom., ed. Robson). [ ( Stratmann.) -some. [Early mod. E. also -som; -samr = Sw. -sam = Dan. -som = Goth. -sams, ult. identical with Teut. * sama, the same: see same. This suffix occurs disguised in buxom (as if * buck some ).] A suffix used to form ad jectives from nouns or adjectives, as mettlesome, blithesome, lonesome, gladsome, gamesome, grue some, quarrelsome, toothsome, troublesome, wholesome, winsome. It usually indicates the po e ion of a considerable degree of the quality named: as, mettle some, full of mettle or spirit; gladsome, very glad or joyous. As used with numbers, foursome, seven some, -some is of different origin: see somel, a.