| 释义 |
somewhat, n. and adv.|ˈsʌmhwɒt|
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 n. and adv.
A. n.
1. a. A certain amount, esp. in the way of statement, information, etc. Freq. with of (= concerning). Now arch.
c1200Ormin 958 Summwhatt icc habbe shæwedd ȝuw Till ȝure sawle fode. a1225Leg. Kath. 506 Schaw sumwhet of ham, for hwi ha beon wurðe for to beon iwurðge. a1300Cursor M. 1496 Spek we sumquat of caym kyn. c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 672 To thi help yet sumwhat can I say. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 27 Now hafe I schortly talde ȝow sum what of bawme. 1509Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 293, I wold reherce somwhat of her demeanyng in this behalue. a1586Sidney Ps. xxxiv. ii, Joyne with me, Somwhat to speake of his due praise. 1625Bacon Ess., Of Cunning (Arb.) 441 It is strange, how long some Men will lie in wait, to speake somewhat, they desire to say. a1715Burnet Own Time (1753) I. 53, I will relate somewhat concerning the Earl of Antrim. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. iv. ii. 274 Exasperated at somewhat his antagonist had said. 1819Byron 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.
αa1225Ancr. R. 44 So doð euer sumhwat þet god muwe þerof awakenen. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 54 He it nolde bi-leue, Ȝwane ani pouere man him bede, bote he him som-ȝwat ȝeue. 1350Will. Palerne 3722 It bi-tokenes sum-what, treuli, god turne it to gode. 1390Gower Conf. II. 210 In ech of hem he fint somwhat That pleseth him. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483) i. xv. 14 Late myn estate with som what be amendyd. 1484Caxton æsop iii. xvi, I deye for honger; gyue me somwhat to ete. 1526Tindale 2 Cor. iv. 8 We are in povertie: but not utterly without somwhat. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 340 Such as were wicked..made a shewe as though they would do some⁓what. a1627Middleton Witch iii. i, Nothing lives But has a joy in somewhat. 1693Dryden Love Triumphant ii. i, I know not why, but somewhat prompts me To read this folded page. 1726Swift Gulliver i. viii, I observed..somewhat that looked like a boat overturned. 1797–1805S. & Ht. Lee Cant. Tales I. 13 He perceived somewhat glitter amid the grass. 1821Scott Kenilw. xi, The tools were worth somewhat. 1842N. Hawthorne in Longfellow's Life (1891) I. 441, I have been looking to receive somewhat in the shape of a letter..from you. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xiv, Some folk say he's not right in his head; or turned miser, or somewhat.
Prov.1542J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 24 Alwaie somwhat is better then nothyng. 1562― Prov. & Epigr. 152 Boude wands serue for sumwhat.
β1790Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. 59 Yaurs may..seaav sumet agayn they er aud. 1838J. Grant Sk. Lond. 39 There was no lack either of ‘summut’ to drink or ‘summut’ to eat. 1839in Latham Hdbk. Eng. Lang. (1860) 148 Presently, zum 'ot..went dump! 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede i, A man must learn summat beside Gospel to make them things.
c. Followed by an adjective.
1665Hooke Microgr. 74 Insteed of meeting with what I look'd for, I met with somewhat more admirable. 1681Hobbes Rhet. Pref., May be presumed to contain somewhat excellent. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 4 The parts..are bound together by somewhat Oleaginous. 1751Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless I. 3 Miss Betsy, who had..somewhat extremely engaging in her manner of behaviour. 1836Emerson Nature, Spirit Wks. (Bohn) II. 166 It is essential to a true theory of nature and of man, that it should contain somewhat progressive. 1850Robertson Serm. 3rd Ser. ix. §1. 125 [They] mistook the sensation for somewhat half divine.
†d. by somewhat, by a certain (small) amount.
1653Ramesey Astrol. Rest. 61 Yet he is the swifter of the two by somewhat.
2. a. With dependent genitive: Some part, portion, amount, etc., of something.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7587 So þat vewe contreies beþ in engelonde, Þat monekes nabbeþ of normandie somwat in hor honde. a1300Cursor M. 4739 Len vs sumquat o þi sede, Was neuer ar sua mikel nede. 1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 22 Þer..a noþer chapelle standes, & somwhat of þat tre, þei bond vntille his handes. c1400Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 69 (MS. α), In þis citee is somwhat of þat famous wal. c1440Wycliffite Bible Gen. xl. 4 Sumdel [v.r. sum whatt] of tyme passide. 1588Kyd Househ. Phil. Wks. (1901) 267 It is thought there is somewhat of theyr dooings in his works. 1658W. Sanderson Graphice 33 Observe to hit the virtues of the Piece, and to refuse the Vices; for all Masters have somewhat of them both. a1677Barrow 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). 1761Hume Hist. Eng. III. liii. 147 By quitting somewhat of his royal prerogative. 1779Mirror No. 10, By that too great niceness..they may mingle somewhat of disgust and uneasiness even in the highest and finest pleasures. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxvi, A conversation of which he could not help hearing somewhat. 1876Stedman 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.
1650Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 36 Tis the desire of seeing somewhat of new which draws us forth. 1669Dryden Tyrannic Love i. i, Somewhat of mournful, sure, my ears does wound. 1751Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless I. 12 These words, as it proved, had somewhat of prophetic in them. 1870N. Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) I. 273 With somewhat of fantastic in the shape of the clock-tower.
c. = something n. 2 c.
1841Helps Ess., On Treatment of Suitors (1842) 110 You will naturally endeavour to give somewhat of a detailed explanation. 1863M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer's Greece & Greeks II. 3 It was somewhat of a surprise to me. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 88 He was also somewhat of a time-server.
3. a. With limiting word or particle, as somewhat else, somewhat more, somewhat over, etc.
(a)1390Gower Conf. II. 96 As thogh I hadde lost a Ring Or somwhat elles. 1580Lodge 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. 1665J. North in Extr. State P. rel. Friends (1912) III. 235, I haue some-what els to ymparte vnto you. 1736Ainsworth i. s.v. Some, I must talk of somewhat else.
(b)1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxv. (1495) 925 The Suparticularis nombre conteyneth in comparison alle the lesse nombre and somwhat ouer. 1626B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. ii, You are a Courtier, Sir, or somewhat more. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 16, I shall therefore only say somewhat more of my mother.
b. somewhat between, = something n. 1 d.
1823Scott 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. A thing, quality, etc., worth considering or regarding; a person of note or importance.
1382Wyclif Gal. ii. 6 Forsoth thei that weren seen for to be sumwhat, no thing to me ȝauen to gidere. 1526Tindale Gal. vi. 3 Iff a man seme to hym silfe that he is somwhat when in dede he is nothynge. 1663Dryden Wild Gallant iv. ii, Nay, the fool is a handsome fool, that's somewhat. 1838Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 32 It were a strange thing indeed if there were not somewhat in such men as Milton, Sidney [etc.]. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 124 They think that I am somewhat... The silly people take me for a saint. 1859Masson Milton I. 721 The living society of a place is also somewhat.
†b. of somewhat, for some purpose. Obs.—1
a1400Sir Perc. 854 It servede hym of somwhatt The wylde fyre that he gatt.
5. a. With a, the, etc., and pl. A certain undefined or unknown thing, quality, amount, etc.
1598R. Bernard tr. Terence (1607) 30 ‘In the meane season I hope some-what may be done.’.. ‘That some-what will prove just nothing.’ 1654Whitlock Zootomia 210 Pretty Somewhats they would meane, but sure They understand not themselves any more than I do. 1685Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 220 Several men would be great, if they wanted not a somewhat, without which they never attain to the height of perfection. 1795Jemima I. 218 He has a somewhat in his voice..so pleasant. 1806H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow II. 247 A habit of delivering his sentiments with a somewhat of more than dictatorial petulance. 1857J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson I. 126 Sending to Hodgson a somewhat which he had left behind him.
b. With preceding adj.
1685Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 117 The secret charm, or the unexpressible somewhat; which the French call Le Je-ne-sai-quoi. 1710Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. §80 Matter is an unknown somewhat—neither substance nor accident. 1785M. 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. 1827Coleridge Table-t. 30 Aug., Painting is the intermediate somewhat between a thought and a thing. 1855Browning One Word More ix, Thus achievement lacks a gracious somewhat.
c. Const. of or with adj. following.
1817Keatinge Trav. I. 272 Still here attaches..a somewhat of disgraceful to the idea of intoxication. 1825Scott Fam. Lett. II. 354 They require the atmosphere of a cigar and the amalgam of a summat comfortable. a1858R. 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.
c1200Ormin 16882 Þærþurrh wass sene þatt he þa Summ⁓whatt bigunnenn haffde To lefenn o þe Laferrd Crist. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 71 (Fairf.), Ye be diligent To forthren me somwhat in my labour. c1410Sir Cleges 147 Jn with hyr he gan goo, And sumwatt mendyd hys chere. c1440Partonope 4915 To her suster dyd she spek And somwhat her hert to her breke. 1526Tindale Acts xxvi. 28 Sumwhatt thou bryngest me in mynde for to be come christen. 1577–82Breton Flourish upon Fancie Wks. (Grosart) I. 17/2 These Drugges,..though they sumwhat please the tast, yet make the bosom stinke. 1646Gaule Sel. Cas. 56 Hereupon it hath been somwhat dissented. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 308/1 The short Graver, which turneth up somewhat at the end. 1780Mirror No. 82, Sir George Rodney's success has somewhat lessened their force. 1812Cary Dante, Parad. ii. 53 She somewhat smiled. 1877J. D. Chambers Divine Worship 389 The Forms of these ejaculations varied somewhat.
b. Qualifying a preposition.
1492Hen. VII Let. in G. Griffiths Hist. Tong (1894) 224 Desiring you that somwhat bifor the said tyme ye wol addresse you unto us. 1600in Ingleby Shaks. Cent. Praise (Shaks. Soc.) 35 Somwhat before the play began. 1735Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. viii. 91 To drink somewhat beyond the bounds of exact Temperance. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 10 Spirit of nitre consists of somewhat above one fourth of pure acid. 1819Byron Juan i. i, Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time.
c. somewhat as, in much the same way, to some extent, as.
1872Morley Voltaire (1886) 1 We may think of Voltairism in France, somewhat as we think of Catholicism. 1894Crockett Stickit Minister 16 It ran or rather hirpled somewhat as follows.
2. a. Qualifying an adjective, adverb, or clause.
(a)a1300Cursor M. 11054 Þat mensking þam bi-tuin, Was sum-quat diuers, als i wene. c1384Chaucer H. Fame 1097 But for the ryme ys lyght and lewed Yit make hyt sumwhat agreable. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 48 If þat ilke mater be not hard but sumwhat neische. 1466Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 324 For a sadelle sumwhat worne, ij.s. viij.d. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xliii. 144 His coloure was sum what pale. 1595in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 335 His vtterance was somwhat vnready. 1667Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all v. ii, Would I were hanged if it be not somewhat probable. 1750tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 92 [It] is a stone of a crystal colour, and somewhat obscure. 1780Mirror No. 105, Somewhat a-kin to the lovers of detraction are the offence-takers. 1826Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 15 Their practice is governed by principles somewhat different. 1885Manch. Exam. 12 May 5/2 It would seem..that the struggle was somewhat indecisive.
(b)1542Boorde Dyetary iv. (1870) 238 The seller vnder the pantry, sette somwhat abase. 1592Kyd Murther. I. Brewen Wks. (1901) 290 When it drew some what late. 1637Milton Lycidas 17 Begin, and somwhat loudly sweep the string. 1797–1805S. & Ht. Lee Cant. T. I. 195 One, who, having somewhat unexpectedly succeeded to the family title. 1851Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. ii. 478 If..we Are counted somewhat deeply in their debt. 1869Ruskin Q. of Air i. §32 Somewhat saucily.
(c)1578Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 35 Mony injurious wordis, sumquhat in contempt of our Soverane Lord. 1608E. Grimstone Hist. France (1611) 457 A cunning woman, and some-what of her fathers humor. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 27 Now was Christian somwhat in a muse. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. ix, The hounds and huntsmen seemed somewhat at a stand. 1828Lytton Pelham liii, Somewhat of a lugubrious nature. 1833H. 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.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 46 It es sumwhat hyer þan oþer placez of þe citee. 1484Caxton Fables of Auian xxii, I blowe in hit for to haue it somwhat more cold than hit is. 1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshman (Percy Soc.) 6 And somwhat wyser be they also than we. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lv. §5 Somewhat more plainly, to shew a true immediate reason..we acknowledge [etc.]. 1600Pory tr. Leo's Africa vi. 275 The men of this place are black, but the women are some⁓what fairer. 1696Whiston Th. Earth iv. (1722) 317 The Lower Earthy Strata would be settling somewhat closer together. 1768Woman of Honor III. 233 A range of thirteen chests rather somewhat larger than the common size. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 173 The pan being brought to somewhat more than a red heat. 1866Carlyle in Mrs. C.'s Lett. III. 255 She..went home somewhat better. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 359 Tell me.., in somewhat plainer terms, what you mean!
c. With of the and a superlative adj. or adv.
1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iv. (1577) Y vij b, Not to make wise to abhorre companie and talke, though somewhat of the wantonest. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 30, I got mee (though somewhat of the latest) hungry. 1656Heylin Surv. France 218 The revenues of this Archbishoprick are somewhat of the meanest. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xvi, Your morning-draught has been somewhat of the strongest.
d. With a or an inserted before the adj. (or n.) qualified.
1588J. Read Compend. Method. 69 b, Barriga..receaued a wounde in his brest, with somewhat a long sword. a1646Gregory Posthuma (1650) 198 This was somwhat a tolerable impietie, for such great Astronomers to adore the Host of Heaven. 1680R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. 79 [He] may vouchsafe his Assistance also unto us, who are some⁓what a larger Congregation. 1779Johnson Drake Wks. 1787 IV. 417 Being obliged by this accident to somewhat a longer residence among the Moors. 1817Whewell in Mrs. S. Douglas Life (1881) 25, I must acknowledge myself somewhat an idle correspondent so far as writing goes. 1891A. 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.
1779Mirror No. 61, The contempt in which, to a somewhat unreasonable degree, he holds modern refinement. 1820Scott Monast. xxi, The cooling my somewhat too much inflamed visage. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 180 Her admonitions were given in a somewhat perfunctory manner.
f. Used as adj.
1819T. 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{ddd}somewhat, partly{ddd}partly.
1390Gower Conf. I. 2, I wolde..wryte a bok betwen the tweie, Somewhat of lust, somewhat of lore. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxx. (1859) 34 He is lettid by the wey somwhat by foly of hym self, somwhat by other. a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 38 Þai may ete and drynk and go, and somwhat sitte and somwhat slepe. 1552Latimer 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.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 252 b, [She] begoonne some⁓what with the soonest to have whyte heares in hir hedde. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. Pref. Ep. 2 Such discourse which might peraduenture be somewhat with the longest. 1610Holland 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).
1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 229 Though she were a lustie bounsing rampe somewhat like Gallamilla. 1611Cotgr., Bellastre,..passable, so so, some⁓what like. a1620Dyke Serm. (1640) 379 If a man will sell a commodity, hee will sell it somewhat like, or hee will keepe it. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 165 It was somewhat like a Sturgeon, but was much whiter. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VI. 241 Why this is talking somewhat like. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede viii, It's summat-like to see such a man as that i' the desk of a Sunday! 1890Science-Gossip XXVI. 194 This is somewhat like the one examined by Schrötter.
6. more than somewhat, very, extremely; very much.
1930D. Runyon in Collier's 13 Sept. 7/3, I am now more nervous than somewhat. 1938D. Wheatley Uncharted Seas xi. 190, I thought my nerve was pretty good, but this scares me more than somewhat. 1945Tee Emm (Air Ministry) V. 40 Citizens have been known to leave the premises.., being more than somewhat apprehensive of future developments. 1964Wodehouse Frozen Assets viii. 143 She said quite a number of things that wounded my sensitive nature more than somewhat. 1974V. Gielgud In such a Night vii. 67 It burned me up more than somewhat. |