someplace (adv.)

Middle English som, "someone, somebody, a certain person; a certain indefinite portion of something, some part," from Old English sum "some, a, a certain one, something, a certain quantity; a certain indefinite number" (as in some say). This is from Proto-Germanic *sumaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German sum, Old Norse sumr, Gothic sums), from a suffixed form of PIE root *sem- (1) "one; as one, together with."

The word has had greater currency in English than in the other Teutonic languages, in some of which it is now restricted to dialect use, or represented only by derivatives or compounds .... [OED]

For substitution of -o- for -u-, see come. As a pronoun from c. 1100, "a certain quantity or number." A possessive form is attested from 1560s but remains rare. Use as a quasi-adverb before numerals began in Old English, originally "out of" (as in sum feowra "one of four").

The sense of "in some degree, to some extent" is American English, by 1745. The meaning "remarkable, quite a" is attested from 1808, American English colloquial.

Many combination forms (somewhat, sometime, somewhere) were in Middle English but often written as two words before 17-19c. Somewhen is rare and since 19c. used almost exclusively in combination with the more common compounds; somewho "someone" is attested from late 14c. but did not endure. Somewhy appeared occasionally in 19c. Scott (1816) has somegate "somewhere, in some way, somehow," and somekins or somskinnes "some kind of a" is recorded from c. 1200.

Get some "have sexual intercourse" is attested 1899 in an anecdote of Abe Lincoln from c. 1840.

c. 1200, "space, dimensional extent, room, area," from Old French place "place, spot" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin placea "place, spot," from Latin platea "courtyard, open space; broad way, avenue," from Greek plateia (hodos) "broad (way)," fem. of platys "broad," from PIE root *plat- "to spread."

Replaced Old English stow and stede. From mid-13c. as "particular part of space, extent, definite location, spot, site;" from early 14c. as "position or place occupied by custom, etc.; precedence, priority in rank or dignity; social status, position on some social scale;" from late 14c. as "inhabited place, town, country," also "place on the surface of something, portion of something, part." Meaning "a situation, appointment, or employment" is by 1550s. Meaning "group of houses in a town" is from 1580s.

Also from the same Latin source are Italian piazza, Catalan plassa, Spanish plaza, Middle Dutch plaetse, Dutch plaats, German Platz, Danish plads, Norwegian plass. The word appears via the Bible in Old English (Old Northumbrian plaece, plaetse "an open place in a city"), but the modern word is a reborrowing.

Sense of "a mansion with its adjoining grounds" is from mid-14c.; that of "building or part of a building set apart for some purpose is by late 15c. (in place of worship). Meaning "a broad way, square, or open space in a city or town," often having some particular use or character (Park Place, Waverly Place,Rillington Place) is by 1690s, from a sense in French. Its wide application in English covers meanings that in French require three words: place, lieu, and endroit. Cognate Italian piazza and Spanish plaza retain more of the etymological sense.

To take place "happen, come to pass, be accomplished" (mid-15c., earlier have place, late 14c.), translates French avoir lieu. To know (one's) place "know how to behave in a manner befitting one's rank, situation, etc." is from c. 1600, from the "social status" sense; hence the figurative expression put (someone) in his or her place (1855). In in the first place, etc., it has the sense of "point or degree in order of proceeding" (1630s). Out of place "not properly adjusted or placed in relation to other things" is by 1520s. All over the place "in disorder" is attested from 1923.