sometime, adv. (and a.)
(ˈsʌmtaɪm)
Forms: 3–6 sometyme, 6– sometime, 4–6 somtyme, 4, 6 Sc. -tym, 4–5, 7 -time; 4–6 sumtyme (6 summ-), 4 -time, 5 -tym; 4 sumetime, 5 -tyme.
[f. some a.1 + time n. Down to the 16th c. written either as one word or as two; even in later use the distinction between sometime and some time is not always clear (cf. some a.1 4 c).]
1. a. At one time or another, with the possibility of recurrence or repetition; now and then; occasionally; = sometimes 1.
Common in the 16th and 17th centuries; now rare or Obs.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5880 Þarfor maysters som tyme uses þe wand Þat has childer to lere. c 1375 Cursor M. 13185 (Fairf.), Ȝet fallis sum-time in fraunce wodemen atte saint Iones tide atte þe kirke bote to bide. 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 81 But som-tyme þis Reubarb is venomous. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 44 An hid defaut is sumtyme in nature. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 63 Lykewyse somtyme it commeth to passe that the syde of the chylde commeth forwarde. 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers M j, They..grow verie impacient, and some time dispaire of release. 1622 Wither Philarete (1633) K 5 b, My heart is sometime heavy, when I smile. 1679 T. Puller Moder. Ch. Eng. (1843) 227 But sometime fear is the beginning of wisdom. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. A ij, I am apt to think, a Dedication sometime to be none of the least [troublesome]. 1809 Syd. Smith Serm. I. 286 The very name used to denote it, however unjustly it may be, sometime, applied. |
† b. sometime{ddd}sometime, used to introduce antithetical words, clauses, etc. Also with sometimes in the first or second place. Obs.
| (a) 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3438 Þus were..þe saxons Some tyme aboue & some (tyme) bineþe. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 28 Somtime nay, somtime yee, Somtime he cam, somtime noght. 1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert 102 He be-gan to pray, sumtyme loud, sumtyme soft, sumtyme saying, sumtyme singing. c 1537 R. De Benese Meas. Lande A j, Somtyme the sellers..somtyme y⊇ byers..be greatly deceyued by the meters thereof. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. iii. 10 Going in such sort, as sometime he kept the Sea, and sometime droue towards the lande. 1660 H. Bloome Archit. A j, Gutta, are drops sometime round, sometime in Triangle fashion. 1700 Wallis in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 316 Dr. Keil sometime at Oxford and sometime at Cambridge alternately, hath..gone through a course of Anatomy. |
| (b) 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 2 Sometime these madcaps be at a fray: sometimes at a feast. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. v. iii. 226 This humor..is sometime in the substance of the Braine, sometimes contained in the Membranes.., sometimes in the passages [etc.]. |
| (c) 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. iii. 142 Sometimes fashioning them like Pharaoes souldiours.., sometime like god Bels priests.., sometime like the shauen Hercules. 1674 Govt. Tongue v. §2. 120 Somtimes a man invents a perfect falsity of another; somtime he that do's not invent it, yet reports it. 1681 R. L'Estrange Tully's Offices 129 For sometimes Bodily Goods fall in Competition with the Goods of Fortune: sometime Outward Goods with Those of the Body: and sometime again [etc.]. |
c. With different correlatives.
| a 1425 Cursor M. 7433 (Trin.), Oþerwhile wiþ harpe, sumtyme with song. 1526–1541 [see otherwhiles 2]. 1586 [see otherwhile 2]. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 9 Sometime, the Flood preuailes; and than the Winde. a 1654 Gataker Parker in Fuller Abel Rediv. (1867) II. 18 He forbare not frequently to preach,..sometime in his own cathedral church, and at other times in the towns and villages abroad. 1720 [see otherwhile 2]. |
d. Passing into adj. Freq. in phr. a sometime thing: something which is occasional or transient.
| 1935 G. Gershwin (song-title) A woman is a sometime thing. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. p. xxxi/1 Going to the movies still entailed leaving home and paying money, so that..the movies were a ‘sometime thing’ and a reward. 1964 ‘E. McBain’ Axe vi. 115 The game..ain't regular, like you said it was. It's a sometime thing, whenever the urge strikes. 1967 Observer 19 Nov. 21/2 Money is a sometime thing for Simon Dee, here today and just possibly gone tomorrow. 1969 Jrnl. Eng. & Gmc. Philol. LXVIII. 214 Poetic propriety is a sometime thing. 1980 Newsweek 17 Nov. 12/2 Political parties are weaker, the Federal bureaucracy has grown unwieldy and party discipline in Congress is a sometime thing. |
2. † a. At a certain time, on a particular occasion, in the past; once. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8958 Some time as þis gode mold in to halle com. 1375 in Horstmann Altengl. Leg. (1878) 130/2 Y trowe wel Þow desyre to ete sum del Of þe frut of paradys Þat þow of ete som tyme. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 195 Well sholdiste thou remenber the þat Sum tym the Quen of Inde the send fair yeftis. 1484 Caxton Fables of Avian iv, This fable of an asse whiche somtyme fond the skynne of a lyon. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 b, As it was somtyme shewed to Noe in the tyme of the vniuersal flode. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 147 b, Like as the Crauish sometime did. Who [etc.]. 1620 Frier Rush 1 There was sometime beyond the Sea edified and founded a certaine house. 1653 Baxter Saints' Rest iii. vi. (1662) 387 Let the power speak, which sometime said, ‘Lazarus arise!’ 1661 Ussher Power of Princes i. (1683) 50 The first Christian Emperour Constantine used this speech sometime unto his Bishops. |
† b. At one time; in former times, formerly. Obs.
The quotations under (b) illustrate the usage with the substantive verb.
| (a) c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6905 Whylom [v.r. som tyme] Bretons landes wonnen;..Now ar þey nought so mykel of myght. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. iii. (Skeat) l. 136 Somtyme, er it were white, it might have be nat white. 14.. Guy Warw. 4655 Some tyme þou were of grete honowre. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1885) 131 The kyng off Ffraunce myght not sumtyme dyspende off his demaynes..so mich as myght tho the kynge off England. 1535 Coverdale Wisd. v. 3 These are they, whom we somtyme had in derision, & iested vpon. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 193 Farley..belonged sometime to the Monks of Christs church in Canterburie. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 66 It was sometime gouerned by a certaine tyrant. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 25 July 1678, A worthy..gentleman, with whom my son was sometime bred in Arundel House. 1786–1805 Tooke Purley (1829) I. 404 The whole verb Dure was some time used commonly in our language. |
| (b) a 1400 Mandeville (1839) viii. 98 Also fro Bethanye to Jerico, was somtyme a litylle Cytee. c 1440 Generydes 2 Of Inde Somtyme ther was a nobyll kyng. 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce viii, Somtyme was a kynge whiche hadde a fabulatour. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xx. 18 The comon sayenge was somtyme: Who so wyll axe, let him axe at Abel. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 283 Where was sometime an auncient Church erected by the Romanes. |
† c. In descriptive clauses introduced by that.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 129 Seleucus, þat was somtyme plegge and prisoner at Rome. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1729 Our Cite for sothe, þat sum tyme was here, [þai] Brent. 1445 tr. Claudian in Anglia XXVIII. 269 Be thyn excytyng craftys lefte þat som tyme were wele knowe. |
d. In similar use with omission or ellipse of relative and verb. Now arch.
| a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 lf. 31 b, Noȝt with stondinde þe statut sume time at Westmunestre..i made. c 1375 Cursor M. 13563 (Fairf.), Þen ansquared he sum time blinde. 1423 Cal. Letter-bk. ‘I’ (1909) 288 Sir Edward, sumtyme Kyng of Ynglond. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 16 To Raffe Otle sumtyme my man. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 210 b, Asia sometyme the..welthiest countree of the worlde, had..been spoyled by Alexander. 1600 Holland Livy xxxviii. viii. 987 To have mercie and pitie of their nation sometime linked in amitie unto them. 1633 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 103 The visage of our Nazarites, sometime whiter than snow, is now become blacker than a coal. 1771 Antiq. Sarisb. 109 His body lies..under a large marble stone, sometime inlaid with brass. 1794 Bloomfield Rep. 14 A Negro Woman, sometime the Property of H., became free. 1852 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 9 John Jewel, sometime Bishop of Salisbury. |
† e. With of or genitive, denoting former ownership or proprietary rights. Obs.
| 1423 Coventry Leet Bk. 52 A house with gardyne sumtyme off John Askemare. 1486 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 1 The tenement sumtyme Rauf a Beryes. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 48 The church sumtyme the Gray freeres. |
f. Preceded by a pronoun or article. Passing into adj.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos vi. 27 Alle the grete tresours..of hir sayd somtyme husbonde sichee. c 1585 Montgomerie Sonn. iv. 9 Hou..that som tym peirles place..in furious flammis did burne. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 144 Agreeing with Tremellius, his sometime Colleague. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 254, I wonder now of my sometime boldness to chide and quarrel Christ. 1756 Connoisseur No. 118 ¶7 The sometime Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 235 Our sometime constable, the tipsiest..of men, is dead. 1889 Swinburne Study B. Jonson 103 A sometime student of the secular [poet]. |
† 3. at sometime or in sometime, = 2 b. Obs.
Cf. examples with some time under some a.1 2 b (a).
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 765 Fone men may now fourty yhere pas, And foner fifty als in somtym was. 1552 Elyot, Aliquoties, at sometime. 1579 W. Fulke Conf. Sanders 541 At somtime, no citie in Italie was so notable as Rome. |
4. a. At some future time; on a future occasion. Also in phr. sometime or other.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 385 For possible is,..That by som cas, syn fortune is chaungeable, Thow maist to thy desir som tyme atteyne. ― Man of Law's T. 12 Parfay, seistow, somtyme he rekene shal. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xv. 42 Suppois the servand be lang vnquit, The lord sumtyme rewaird will it. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 159, I must nedes somtyme tel you of myne owne experience. a 1654 Gataker Whitgift in Fuller Abel Rediv. (1867) II. 199 His lectures..are said to remain yet under hope of seeing sometime further light. 1741 Berkeley Lett. Wks. 1871 IV. 268 You may sometime or other come to Bath. 1839–52 Bailey Festus 136 Thou too and all the stars..Shall sometime range in bliss the spirit-pasturing skies. 1879 Howells L. Aroostook (1883) I. 156 ‘Will you tell me?’ ‘Yes, sometime.’ |
b. In attrib. use, with preceding pron. or article.
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 157 The meanes which he had appointed for their sometime happinesse to come. 1787 A. Seward Lett. (1811) I. 386 Materials whose sometime publication I meditate. 1805 Ibid. VI. 241 The sometime resurrection of the body. |
5. a. At some indefinite or indeterminate point of time; at some time or other.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 253 There sleepes Tytania, sometime of the night. [1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 321/1 Some time in May, the rows must be evened.] 1818 Cobbett Polit. Reg. XXXIII. 432 This letter was sent off sometime in October. 1832 Southey Hist. Penins. War III. 279 It was sometime in the 11th century. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 685 Where indeed The roof so lowly but that beam of Heaven Dawn'd sometime thro' the door⁓way? 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 171 Grant made the light, sometime after nightfall. |
† b. Just now; recently. Obs.
| 1779 Sheridan St. Patrick's Day ii. ii, I was sometime taken with a sudden giddiness, and Humphrey..ran to my assistance. |
6. a. With since, = some time ago. rare.
The use of the compound in place of the two separate words (some time) is evidently due to association with sense 5.
| a 1700 Evelyn Diary 13 Apr. 1652, The letter which some⁓time since I sent to Deane Cosin's proselyted son. 1792 C. Smith Desmond III. 244 The subject was sometime since exhausted between us. 1897 Daily News 13 Sept. 7/1 A sometime since completed [railway] line. |
b. For some time. rare—1.
| 1801 Lusignan IV. 177 She answered that she was very well, and had slept better than she had done sometime. |