Sumtyme

Part of speech: adverb, adjective

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling for a time not specified ; now and then on certain occasions ; of a past holder of a role or title
2. Archaic form meaning at an unnamed moment in the future or past ; occasionally, from time to time ; formerly, previously holding a position
3. Old spelling of a word for some point in time ; on certain occasions rather than always ; having once been, as a former office holder

Etymology: Sumtyme is a Middle English word, meaning roughly "at some time" or "once," and it is the ancestor of modern "sometime" and "sometimes." It was built from "sum," meaning "some" or "a certain," and "tyme," meaning "time," both native Old English elements. Its earliest use is in the medieval period, when English writers joined these two words to mean an unspecified moment in the past or future. Over the centuries the spelling settled and the word split in two directions. In modern English, "sometime" is used for an unspecified point in time, as in "I'll visit sometime," while "sometimes" came to mean "now and then" or "on occasion," as in "sometimes it rains." Early writers did not always keep these senses apart, so a medieval reader would have sorted out the meaning from context rather than from the spelling.

Synonyms: sometimes, occasionally, at times, now and then

Antonyms: never, always