thought English · revision 1833

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 839 (Old English)|origins=gem-pro *þankija-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /θɔːt/ ''(UK)''; /θɑːt/, /θɔːt/ ''(US)''^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|thought]], [[m|enm|thoht]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|þōht]], more often [[m|ang|ġeþōht]],^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) formed from the stem of [[m|ang|þencan|t=to conceive in the mind, consider]] (see [[think]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) According to Bammesberger, as quoted by Etymonline, [[gem-pro|*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.^(Etymonline) Its cognates include [[ofs|thochta]],^(Collins 2023) [[osx|githāht]], [[nl|gedachte]], [[goh|gidāht]], [[non|þótti]] and [[got|𐌸𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌿𐍃|tr=þūhtus]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(SOED 2002) and the same formation is the second element of German [[m|de|Gedächtnis|t=memory]] and [[m|de|Andacht|t=devotion]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The process of thinking, mental activity (Old English, before 839);^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) Old English ''geþoht'' could also mean “compassion”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) In Middle English a thought was often a feeling of anxiety or sorrow,^(Weekley 1921)^(MED) which is the sense of ''take no thought'' in Matthew 6:31, “do not be anxious”;^(Weekley 1921) the HTOED dates this use from about 1250 and calls it now chiefly northern regional English.^(HTOED) The MED also records ''thought'' for a person's religious allegiance, as in ''chaungen thought'' “to convert”.^(MED) From the 1580s the word was used adverbially for “a very small amount”, as in ''a thought too long''.^(HTOED)^(Hoad 1986) ''Second thoughts'', later and more careful consideration, appears in the 1640s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The collective sense, the ideas typical of a period or group (''Greek thought''), is recorded from the mid-19th century.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) defined the word first as “the operation of the mind; the act of thinking”.^(Johnson 1755) Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949) gave ''thought-crime'', while ''thought police'' is attested from 1945, first of the wartime Japanese special police.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 839 – Old English ''þōht'', the process of thinking.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 975 – a single act or product of thinking; an idea.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1175 – consideration, attention, heed.^(HTOED)

+ * c. 1200 – what a person thinks; the content of the mind.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1250 – anxiety, distress (now regional).^(HTOED)

+ * 1581 – a very small amount, a trifle.^(HTOED)

+ * 1642 – ''second thoughts''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1853 – the thinking of a period, place or group.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1945 – ''thought police''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1949 – ''thought-crime'' (Orwell).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or process of thinking.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # An [[idea]] or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly to the mind.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The power of thinking or reasoning.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The ideas characteristic of a particular period, place or group: ''Greek thought''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Careful consideration or attention: ''gave it some thought''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An intention or expectation: ''had no thought of leaving''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Recollection, remembrance.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A trifle; a little: ''a thought too long''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # Past tense and past participle of [[think]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==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''.^(RHWU)^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}