somebody
noun
Somebody — an unnamed person, and the ache of wanting to be one
Definition
A human being; "there was too much for one person to do"
In depth
Somebody, much like 'someone,' designates an unspecified human being, but it carries a slightly warmer, more colloquial register and a curious secondary life as a noun describing social significance — to 'be a somebody' is to matter, to be recognized, in a way that mere existence as 'someone' does not guarantee.
Origin
Like 'someone,' the word is a Middle English compound of 'some' and 'body,' the latter once used more broadly to mean 'person' rather than merely the physical form, a sense that survives in words like 'nobody' and 'everybody.' That old meaning of 'body' as 'person entire' quietly persists every time the word is used.
Usage examples
"Somebody knocked twice and then was gone before she reached the door."
"He had left his hometown years ago, determined to become a somebody before he ever returned."
"There was somebody in the photograph she didn't recognize, standing just behind her mother's shoulder."
How to use it
Somebody suits informal and spoken registers more naturally than 'someone,' and its noun form — a somebody, as opposed to a nobody — gives writers a compact way to gesture at ambition, status, or the desire to be seen.
Related concepts
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