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thing

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:Thingandþing

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishthing, fromOld Englishþing, fromProto-West Germanic*þing, fromProto-Germanic*þingą.

Cognate withSaterland FrisianDing(“thing”),West Frisianting,ding(“thing”),Dutchding(“thing”),German Low GermanDing(“thing”),GermanDing(“thing”),Swedish,Danish andNorwegianting(“thing”),Faroeseting(“parliament, assembly”),Icelandicþing(“congress, assembly”).

The word originally meant "assembly", then came to mean a specific issue discussed at such an assembly, and ultimately came to mean most broadly "an object". CompareLatinrēs, also meaning "legal matter", and same transition fromLatincausa(“legal matter”) to "thing" in Romance languages. Modern use to refer to a Germanic assembly is likely influenced by cognates (from the same Proto-Germanic root) likeOld Norseþing(“thing”), Danishting, Swedishting, andOld High Germanding with this meaning.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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thing (pluralthings)

  1. That which is considered toexist as a separateentity,object,quality orconcept.
    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Luke1:1:
      Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of thosethings which are most surely believed among us...
    • 2013 June 21,Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, inThe Guardian Weekly, volume189, number 2, page48:
      The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […], "share thethings you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
  2. Aword,symbol,sign, or otherreferent that can be used to refer to any entity.
  3. An individual object or distinct entity.
  4. (law)
    1. Whatever can beowned.
    2. Corporealobject.
  5. (in theplural)Possessions orequipment;stuff;gear.
    Hold on, let me just grab mythings.
  6. (somewhat dated, withthe) Thelatestfad orfashion.
    • 1802, Anne Ormsby, "Memoirs of a Family in Swisserland", quoted inThe Monthly Review, Or, Literary Journalpage 45:
      To go to bed late, to rise late, to breakfast late, to dine late, and to visit late, is to be “quite thething,” or in good English, which you may understand better than the first phrase, to be in the fashion.
    • 2002, Roger Nichols,The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917-1929, Univ of California Press,→ISBN:
      After a slow start it became thething to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi[…]'
  7. (informal) Acustom orpractice.
    Cheek kissing is a Frenchthing; you get used to it after a while.
  9. (informal, witha) A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief).[from 20th c.]
    Q: Bacon pie? Is that athing? A: Yes, I checked into it, and it's athing. Some people are even connoisseurs about it.
    • 1993 November 24,The Rush Limbaugh Show (radio),Rush Limbaugh (actor):
      Now I don't know how many of those male flight attendants are male lesbians -- you know... (Laughter) Well, it's athing. I mean, there's a -- it's a -- there's a feminist professor down in Tampa who's discovered a male lesbian
      Accessed viaCOCA
    • 2014, Marianna Papastephanou, Torill Strand, Anne Pirrie,Philosophy as a Lived Experience:
      Frequent statements of the kind “'Race' is not athing”, “'races,' put simply, do not exist”, “'race' (as each essay subtly shows) simply does not exist” aim to discredit Todorov's claim that a relapse to an ontology of race is at place[…]
    • 2014, Harper Lin,Croissant Murder:
      Clémence would say that his style was normcore before normcore became athing. She had to admit that she still found him attractive.
    • 2019,Adam Gopnik,A Thousand Small Sanities, Riverrun, published2019, page88:
      Conservative philosophy, in other words, is, as we say now, athing and deserves a serious listen.
  10. (informal) A unit or container, usually containing consumablegoods.
    Could you get me athing of apple juice at the store?
    I just ate a wholething of jelly beans.
    • 1998 March 24,Geraldo (television):
      And he invited us all in there and then he kicked the girls out a little bit later and brought me in a couplethings of alcohol. And just before he brought in my second bottle of alcohol[…]
      Accessed viaCOCA
    • 2011, 1:19:48 from the start, inWe Were Here:
      I remember my friend Ben saying in the old days that he would never go to Costco and buy one of those bigthings of toilet paper[…]
      Accessed viaCOCA
    • 2011, Juliette Fay,Deep Down True: A Novel, Penguin,→ISBN:
      I came home and ate a wholething of ice cream.
  11. (informal) Aproblem,dilemma, orcomplicatingfactor.
    The car looks cheap, but thething is, I have doubts about its safety.
  12. (informal, withthe) The central point; thecrux.
    That's thething: we don't know where he is.
  14. (slang, euphemistic) Apenis.
  15. (slang, euphemistic) Avulva orvagina.
    • 1982,Paul Radley,My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page65:
      ‘They reckon she lets her dogs lick herthing.’
  16. Alivingbeing orcreature.
    she's a funny oldthing, but her heart's in the right place
    I met a pretty blondthing at the bar
  17. Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent.
    Oh yeah, I'm supposed to promote that visionthing.
    • 1914, Eugene Gladstone O'Neill,The Movie Man [playscript]:
      Don’t forget to have Gomez postpone that shootingthing.(in reference to the execution of Fernandez)
  18. (informal, used possessively, chiefly in the negative) That which is favoured; personalpreference.
    it's not really mything
  19. (informal, used possessively, with "do") One's typical routine, habits, ormanner.
    let me do mything;  I'm here doing mything
    • 2006,David Lynch,Catching the Big Fish, Tarcher 2006, "Darkness", p. 91:
      But I'm just a guy from Missoula, Montana, doing mything, going down the road like everybody else.
  20. (chiefly historical) A publicassembly orjudicialcouncil in aGermanic country.
    • 1974, Jón Jóhannesson, translated by Haraldur Bessason,A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth: Íslendinga Saga, page46:
      In accordance with Old Germanic custom men came to thething fully armed, [...]
    • 1974, Jakob Benediktsson,Landnám og upphaf allsherjarríkis, inSaga Íslands, quoted in1988 by Jesse L. Byock inMedieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power, page 85:
      Thegoðar seem both to have received payment ofthing-fararkaup from those who stayed home and at the same time compensated those who went to thething, and it cannot be seen whether they had any profit from these transactions.
    • 1988, Jesse L. Byock,Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power, page59:
      All Icelandicthings wereskap-thing, meaning that they were governed by established procedure and met at regular legally designated intevals at predetermined meeting places.
  21. (informal) Aromanticrelationship.
    • 2020, David Gomadza,EVELINA: The Alpha:
      I can screw you in front of everyone. I don't care, we have athing going on, you know. I love you,” she said.
  22. (informal) Aromanticcouple.
    Are John and Jennifer athing again? I thought they broke up.
  23. (MLE)Alternative form ofting.
  24. (MLE) Girl; attractive woman.
    Look at thenyash on thatthing!

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Related terms

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Translations

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that which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept
word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity
individual object or distinct entity
law: whatever can be owned
law: corporeal object
clothes, possessions or equipment
latest fad or fashion
custom or practice
unit or container, usually containing edible goods
problem, dilemma, or complicating factor
the central point; the crux
penis
living being or creature
situation surrounding a noun's referent
personal preference—see alsopreference
historical: public assembly or judicial council
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

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Verb

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thing (third-person singular simple presentthings,present participlethinging,simple past and past participlethinged)

  1. (rare) To express as a thing; toreify.

Anagrams

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Khumi Chin

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Etymology

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FromProto-Kuki-Chin*thiŋ, fromProto-Sino-Tibetan*siŋ. Cognates includeMizothing andZousing.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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thing

  1. firewood

References

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  • K. E. Herr (2011),The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin‎[1], Payap University, page44

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromOld Englishþing, fromProto-West Germanic*þing, fromProto-Germanic*þingą.

Noun

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thing (pluralthinges orthing)

  1. thing

Descendants

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References

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Mizo

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Etymology

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FromProto-Kuki-Chin*thiŋ, fromProto-Sino-Tibetan*siŋ ~ sik. Akin toKhumi Chinthing.

Noun

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thing

  1. tree
  2. wood
  3. firewood

References

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  • Matisoff, James A.,Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman, University of California Press.

Old High German

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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thing

  1. (Early)alternative form ofding

Declension

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Declension ofthing (neuter a-stem)
casesingularplural
nominativethingthing
accusativethingthing
genitivethingesthingo
dativethingethingum
instrumentalthingu—

Old Saxon

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Etymology

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FromProto-West Germanic*þing. CompareOld Dutchthing,Old Frisianthing,Old Englishþing,Old High Germanding,Old Norseþing.

Noun

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thing n

  1. thing,object
  2. matter,case

Declension

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thing (irregular)
singularplural
nominativethingthing
accusativethingesthinge
genitivethingthing
dativethingothingum
instrumental——

Descendants

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