Somebody means an unknown or unspecified person. As a noun, it can also mean an important or famous person, often said as “a somebody.”
Formed in Middle English from *some* + *body*, following the same pattern as *somewhere* and *something*. It continues the Old English habit of building new pronouns by compounding simple words.
There’s an interesting flip in meaning: *a nobody* versus *a somebody*. The exact same base word *body* can point either to being invisible in society or being so visible that everyone knows you.
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