Etymologically
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thank

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /θæŋk/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thanken, inherited from Old English þancian (“to give thanks; to reward”),[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *þankōjanan,[2] a verb from *þankaz (“thought; gratitude”),[2][3] the source also of the Old English noun þanc (“thought, good will, gratitude”).[3][4] Its cognates are Old Frisian thankia, Old Saxon thancōn, Dutch danken, Old High German danchōn (modern German danken) and Old Norse þakka.[2][5] The noun has a cognate in Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃 (þagks, “thought, gratitude”).[3][6] The word is related to think as song is to sing,[2] and Etymonline traces both to Proto-Indo-European *tong- (“to think, feel”).[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To give thanks to, to recompense or reward: Old English þancian is recorded about 725, in Beowulf.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Old English noun þanc first meant “thought” and then “good thoughts, good will, gratitude”,[2][4] much as Old High German minna “loving memory” first meant “memory”.[2] Middle English thanken meant “to express gratitude to” by about 1200.[2][3] The plural thanks for an expression of gratitude is from before 1250,[3] and thank you, short for I thank you, is 15th century.[4] The ironical sense “to blame” (you have only yourself to thank) is from the 1550s, and thank someone for nothing from 1703.[2] Thanksgiving was a giving of thanks in Tyndale (1533) and a day of thanksgiving by 1632, and Thanksgiving Day is recorded from 1674.[3] Thankful (1375) continues Old English þancfull “grateful, content”, and thankless is from 1536.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English þancian (Beowulf).[3]
  • c. 1175 – thanken.[3]
  • c. 1200 – to express gratitude to.[2]
  • before 1250 – thanks.[3]
  • 1375 – thankful.[3]
  • 15th century – thank you.[4]
  • 1533 – thanksgiving (Tyndale).[3]
  • 1536 – thankless.[3]
  • 1550s – ironically, to blame.[2]
  • 1560 – to credit, hold responsible.[8]
  • 1674 – Thanksgiving Day.[3]
  • 1703 – thank someone for nothing.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To express gratitude to: thank her for the gift.
  2. To hold responsible; credit or blame: he has only himself to thank.
  3. In exclamations of relief: thank goodness.
  4. I'll thank you to, used ironically to stress a demand: I'll thank you to leave.

Word family

  • thanker
  • pickthank
  • thankful
  • thankless
  • thanksgiver
  • thankworthy
  • rethank
  • unthanked

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)