Word definition: sometimes

Etimology


From Middle English sumtymes, somtymes, som tymes, equivalent to sometime +‎ -s (adverbial suffix). Compare West Frisian somstiden (“sometimes”), Dutch somtijds, somwijlen (“sometimes”).

adverb


sometimes (not comparable)

On certain occasions, or in certain circumstances, but not always. [from 16th c.]

(obsolete) On a certain occasion in the past; once. [16th–17th c.]

Examples


Synonyms: at one time or another, at times, every so often, from time to time, occasionally, once in a while; see also Thesaurus:occasionally

Sometimes I sit and think, but mostly I just sit.

It is good that we sometimes be contradicted, and ill though of, and that we always bear it well, even when we deserve to be well spoken of : perfect peace and security cannot be had in this world.

We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.

The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

Synonyms: at one time, in the past, sometime; see also Thesaurus:formerly

What art thou that vſurp’ſt this time of night, / Together with that Faire and Warlike forme / In which the Maieſty of buried Denmarke / Did ſometimes march : By Heauen I charge thee ſpeake.

For yee were sometimes darkenesse, but now are yee light in the Lord: walke as children of light […]

They detract, ſcoffe and raile ſaith one, & barke at mee on every ſide, but I, like that Albanian dog ſometimes given to Alexander for a preſent, vindico me ab illis ſolo contemptu, I ly ſtill and ſleep, vindicate my ſelfe by contempt alone.

adjective


sometimes (not comparable)

(obsolete) Former; sometime.

Examples


Farewell old Gaunt, thy ſometimes brothers wife / With her companion Greefe, muſt end her life.

Data provided by Wiktionary