thought

Pronunciation

• IPA: /θɔːt/ (UK); /θɑːt/, /θɔːt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thought, thoht,^[2][3] inherited from Old English þōht, more often ġeþōht,^[4][5] formed from the stem of þencan (“to conceive in the mind, consider”) (see think).^[6][7] According to Bammesberger, as quoted by Etymonline, Proto-Germanic *þankija- took a past-tense suffix -t, and since Germanic -kt- generally became -ht- and a nasal was lost before -ht-, this gave the Old English form.^[6] Its cognates include Old Frisian thochta,^[8] Old Saxon githāht, Dutch gedachte, Old High German gidāht, Old Norse þótti and Gothic 𐌸𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌿𐍃 (þūhtus),^[7][5] and the same formation is the second element of German Gedächtnis (“memory”) and Andacht (“devotion”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The process of thinking, mental activity (Old English, before 839);^[7][9] Old English geþoht could also mean “compassion”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word covered both the act of thinking and its product, a single idea, which the OED records from about 975.^[9][10] In Middle English a thought was often a feeling of anxiety or sorrow,^[11][12] which is the sense of take no thought in Matthew 6:31, “do not be anxious”;^[11] the HTOED dates this use from about 1250 and calls it now chiefly northern regional English.^[10] The MED also records thought for a person's religious allegiance, as in chaungen thought “to convert”.^[12] From the 1580s the word was used adverbially for “a very small amount”, as in a thought too long.^[10][4] Second thoughts, later and more careful consideration, appears in the 1640s.^[6][9] The collective sense, the ideas typical of a period or group (Greek thought), is recorded from the mid-19th century.^[9][5] Johnson (1755) defined the word first as “the operation of the mind; the act of thinking”.^[13] Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) gave thought-crime, while thought police is attested from 1945, first of the wartime Japanese special police.^[6]

Timeline

• before 839 – Old English þōht, the process of thinking.^[7][9]
• c. 975 – a single act or product of thinking; an idea.^[9]
• c. 1175 – consideration, attention, heed.^[10]
• c. 1200 – what a person thinks; the content of the mind.^[9]
• c. 1250 – anxiety, distress (now regional).^[10]
• 1581 – a very small amount, a trifle.^[10]
• 1642 – second thoughts.^[9]
• 1853 – the thinking of a period, place or group.^[9]
• 1945 – thought police.^[6]
• 1949 – thought-crime (Orwell).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act or process of thinking.
2. An idea or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly to the mind.
3. The power of thinking or reasoning.
4. The ideas characteristic of a particular period, place or group: Greek thought.
5. Careful consideration or attention: gave it some thought.
6. An intention or expectation: had no thought of leaving.
7. (archaic) Recollection, remembrance.
8. A trifle; a little: a thought too long.

Verb

1. Past tense and past participle of think.

Word family

• afterthought
• forethought
• thoughtful
• thoughtless
• aforethought
• bethought
• merrythought
• thought-out

Related words

• think
• thank

Usage notes

Random House lists reflection and cogitation as synonyms of the sense “the process of thinking”, and treats thought among the synonyms of idea.^[14][15]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
15. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin