sometime

See also: some time

English

Alternative forms

• some time (adverb)
• some-time (adjective)
• sometyme (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English somtyme, som time, some tyme, sume time, sumtym, sumtyme, equivalent to some +‎ time.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sŭmʹtīm', IPA^(key): /ˈsʌmˌtaɪm/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: some‧time

Adverb

sometime (not comparable)

2. At an indefinite but stated time in the past or future.

   I'll see you at the pub sometime this evening.

   This will certainly happen sometime in the future.

   It happened sometime yesterday.

   • 1995, John Frank Williams, The Quarantined Culture: Australian Reactions to Modernism, 1913–1939, page 219:

     But while there remains a considerable degree of consensus that the consequence of apparently losing the plot sometime between 1914 and 1918 was the cultural and economic malaise of the 1920s and 1930s, there are still some who look back on the interwar years less with criticism than with nostalgia.

4. (obsolete) Sometimes.
5. (obsolete) At an unstated past or future time; once; formerly.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Did they not sometime cry "All hail" to me?

Synonyms

• (at an indefinite time in the future): at some point, at some time, at some time or other, somewhen; see also Thesaurus:sometime
• (at an indefinite time in the past): at one time, in the past; see also Thesaurus:formerly
• (sometimes):

Derived terms

• sometime thing
• sometime or other, sometime or another
• sometimey

Related terms

• sometimes
• sooner or later

Translations

at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future

• Assamese: কেতিয়াবা (ketiaba)
• Belarusian: калі́-не́будзь (kalí-njébudzʹ), не́калі (njékali), калі́сьці (kalísʹci)
• Bulgarian: ня́кога (bg) (njákoga)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 日後 / 日后 (zh) (rìhòu), 某時 / 某时 (zh) (mǒushí), 下次 (zh) (xiàcì)

• Cornish: neb termyn, yn neb termyn, neb prys
• Czech: někdy (cs)
• Dutch: ooit (nl) (literally “ever”)
• Esperanto: iam (eo)
• Faroese: onkuntíð
• Finnish: joskus (fi), johonkin aikaan, jonakin päivänä
• French: un jour ou l’autre (fr)
• German: irgendwann (de), eines Tages (de)
• Greek: κάποτε (el) (kápote)
• Gujarati: ક્યારેક (kyārek)
• Hebrew: מתישהו (matayshehu)
• Hungarian: valamikor (hu)
• Icelandic: einhvern tíma
• Irish: am éigin
• Italian: un giorno o l'altro
• Japanese: いつか (ja) (itsuka)
• Korean: 언젠가 (ko) (eonjen'ga)
• Latin: aliquandō (la)
• Latvian: kaut kad
• Macedonian: некогаш (nekogaš)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: ала-кунам (ala-kunam), иктаж-кунам (iktaž-kunam)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: en eller annen gang, på et eller annet tidspunkt, før eller senere

• Polish: kiedyś (pl)
• Portuguese: algum dia
• Romanian: cândva (ro)
• Russian: когда́-то (ru) (kogdá-to), когда́-нибудь (ru) (kogdá-nibudʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: uaireigin
• Slovak: niekedy
• Spanish: al rato, algún día (es), en algún momento
• Swedish: någon gång
• Telugu: ఎప్పుడో (eppuḍō)
• Ukrainian: коли́сь (kolýsʹ), коли́-небудь (kolý-nebudʹ)
• Welsh: rhywbryd

obsolete: sometimes — see sometimes

Adjective

sometime (not comparable)

2. Former, erstwhile; at some previous time.

   my sometime friend and mentor

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen / Th' imperial jointress to this warlike state

   • 1832, Thomas Noon Talfourd, Ion: A Tragedy, in Five Acts:

     Ion our sometime darling, whom we prized / As a stray gift, by bounteous Heaven dismiss'd

4. Occasional; intermittent.

   an author and sometime lecturer

Synonyms

• (former): earlier, erstwhile, ex-, previous
• (occasional):

Derived terms

• sometimes

Translations

former

• Bulgarian: бивш (bg) (bivš), някогашен (bg) (njakogašen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: entinen (fi)
• Greek: πρώην (el) m (próin), αλλοτινός (el) m (allotinós)
• Hungarian: hajdani (hu), egykori (hu), valamikori
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: bijušais, kādreizējais
• Portuguese: antigo (pt)
• Romanian: fost (ro), ex- (ro), anterior (ro)
• Russian: бы́вший (ru) (bývšij), пре́жний (ru) (préžnij)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

occasional — see occasional

Anagrams

• timesome