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Webster 1913 Edition

Think

Think

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Thought
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Thinking
.]
[OE.
thinken
, properly, to seem, from AS.
þyncean
(cf.
Methinks
), but confounded with OE.
thenken
to think, fr. AS.
þencean
(imp.
þōhte
); akin to D.
denken
,
dunken
, OS.
thenkian
,
thunkian
, G.
denken
,
dünken
, Icel.
þekkja
to perceive, to know,
þykkja
to seem, Goth.
þagkjan
,
þaggkjan
, to think,
þygkjan
to think, to seem, OL.
tongere
to know. Cf.
Thank
,
Thought
.]
1.
To seem or appear; – used chiefly in the expressions methinketh or methinks, and methought.
☞ These are genuine Anglo-Saxon expressions, equivalent to it seems to me, it seemed to me. In these expressions me is in the dative case.
2.
To employ any of the intellectual powers except that of simple perception through the senses; to exercise the higher intellectual faculties.
For that I am
I know, because I
think
.
Dryden.
3.
Specifically: –
(a)
To call anything to mind; to remember;
as, I would have sent the books, but I did not
think
of it
.
Well
thought
upon; I have it here.
Shakespeare
(b)
To reflect upon any subject; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to consider; to deliberate.
And when he
thought
thereon, he wept.
Mark xiv. 72.
He
thought
within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luke xii. 17.
(c)
To form an opinion by reasoning; to judge; to conclude; to believe;
as, I
think
it will rain to-morrow
.
Let them marry to whom they
think
best.
Num. xxxvi. 6.
(d)
To purpose; to intend; to design; to mean.
I
thought
to promote thee unto great honor.
Num. xxiv. 11.
Thou
thought’st
to help me.
Shakespeare
(e)
To presume; to venture.
Think
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.
Matt. iii. 9.
☞ To think, in a philosophical use as yet somewhat limited, designates the higher intellectual acts, the acts preeminently rational; to judge; to compare; to reason. Thinking is employed by Hamilton as “comprehending all our collective energies.” It is defined by Mansel as “the act of knowing or judging by means of concepts,”by Lotze as “the reaction of the mind on the material supplied by external influences.” See
Thought
.
To think better of
.
See under
Better
.
–
To think much of
, or
To think well of
,
to hold in esteem; to esteem highly.
Syn. – To expect; guess; cogitate; reflect; ponder; contemplate; meditate; muse; imagine; suppose; believe. See
Expect
,
Guess
.

Think

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To conceive; to imagine.
Charity . . .
thinketh
no evil.
1 Cor. xiii. 4,5.
2.
To plan or design; to plot; to compass.
[Obs.]
So little womanhood
And natural goodness, as to
think
the death
Of her own son.
Beau. & Fl.
3.
To believe; to consider; to esteem.
Nor
think
superfluous other's aid.
Milton.
To think much
,
to esteem a great matter; to grudge.
[Obs.]
“[He] thought not much to clothe his enemies.”
Milton.
–
To think scorn
.
(a)
To disdain.
[Obs.]
“He thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone.”
Esther iii. 6.
(b)
To feel indignation.
[Obs.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Think

THINK

,
Verb.
I.
pret. and pp. thought, pron. thaut. [L. duco.]
1.
To have the mind occupied on some subject; to have ideas, or to revolve ideas in the mind.
--For that I am
I know, because I think.
These are not matters to be slightly thought on.
2.
To judge; to conclude; to hold as a settled opinion. I think it will rain tomorrow. I think it not best to proceed on our journey.
Let them marry to whom they think best. Num.36.
3.
To intend.
Thou thought'st to help me.
I thought to promote thee to great honor. Num.24.
4.
To imagine; to suppose; to fancy.
Edmund, I think, is gone
In pity of his misery, to dispatch
His 'nighted life.
Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. 1 cor.10.
5.
To muse; to meditate.
While Peter thought on the vision--Acts 10.
Think much, speak little.
6.
To reflect; to recollect or call to mind.
And when Peter thought thereon, he wept. Mark 14.
7.
To consider; to deliberate. Think how this thing could happen.
He thought within himself, saying, what shall I do?
Luke 12.
8.
To presume.
Think not to say within yourselves,we have Abraham to our father-- Matt.3.
9.
To believe; to esteem.
To think on or upon, to muse on; to meditate on.
If there by any virtue,and if there by any praise, think on these things. Phil.4.
1.
To light on by meditation. He has just thought on an expedient that will answer the purpose.
2.
To remember with favor.
Think upon me, my God, for good. Neh.5.
To think of, to have ideas come into the mind. He thought of what you told him. I would have sent the books, but I did not think of it.
To think well of, to hold in esteem; to esteem.

THINK

,
Verb.
T.
To conceive; to imagine.
Charity--thinketh no evil. 1 Cor.13.
1.
To believe; to consider; to esteem.
Nor think superfluous others' aid.
2.
To seem or appear, as in the phrases, me thinketh or methinks, and methought. These are genuine Saxon phrases, equivalent to it seems to me, it seemed to me. In these expressions, me is actually in the dative case; almost the only instance remaining in the language. Sax 'genoh thuht,' satis visum est, it appeared enough or sufficient; 'me thineth,' mihi videtur, it seems to me; I perceive.
To think much, to grudge.
He thought not much to clothe his enemies.
To think much of, to hold in high esteem.
To think scorn, to disdain. Esth. 3.

Definition 2024

think

think

English

Alternative forms

Verb

think ‎(third-person singular simple present thinks, present participle thinking, simple past and past participle thought)

  1. (transitive) To ponder, to go over in one's head.
    Idly, the detective thought what his next move should be.‎
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 29686887 , chapter IV:
      So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills, […] a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
    • 2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
      Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.
  2. (intransitive) To communicate to oneself in one's mind, to try to find a solution to a problem.
    I thought for three hours about the problem and still couldn’t find the solution.‎
  3. (intransitive) To conceive of something or someone (usually followed by of; infrequently, by on).
    I tend to think of her as rather ugly.‎
  4. (transitive) To be of the opinion (that).
    I think she is pretty, contrary to most people.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 3, in The Celebrity:
      Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
  5. (transitive) To guess; to reckon.
    I think she’ll pass the examination.‎
  6. (transitive) To consider, judge, regard, or look upon (something) as.
    At the time I thought his adamant refusal to give in right.‎
    I hope you won’t think me stupid if I ask you what that means.‎
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”
  7. To plan; to be considering; to be of a mind (to do something).
    • Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
      The cupbearer shrugged up his shoulders in displeasure. "I thought to have lodged him in the solere chamber," said he […]
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      “Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
  8. To presume; to venture.
    • Bible, Matthew iii. 9
      Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Noun

think ‎(usually uncountable, plural thinks)

  1. (chiefly Britain) An act of thinking; consideration (of something).
    I'll have a think about that and let you know.‎
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken (also thinchen, thünchen), from Old English þyncan ‎(“to seem, appear”), from Proto-Germanic *þunkijaną ‎(“to seem”). Cognate with Dutch dunken ‎(“to seem, appear”), German dünken ‎(“to seem, appear”), Danish tykkes ‎(“to seem”), Swedish tycka ‎(“to seem, think, regard”), Icelandic þykja ‎(“to be regarded, be considered, seem”). More at methinks.

Verb

think ‎(third-person singular simple present thinks, present participle thinking, simple past and past participle thought)

  1. (obsolete except in methinks) To seem, to appear.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter v, in Le Morte Darthur, book XV:
      And whanne syr launcelot sawe he myghte not ryde vp in to the montayne / he there alyghte vnder an Appel tree / […] / And then he leid hym doune to slepe / And thenne hym thoughte there came an old man afore hym / the whiche sayd A launcelot of euylle feythe and poure byleue / wherfor is thy wille tourned soo lyghtely toward thy dedely synne
Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: work · too · every · #129: think · life · went · back

Etymology

From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken, thenchen, from Old English þencan, þenċan, þenċean ‎(“to meditate, cogitate, consider; think, have in mind; suppose, imagine, hold as an opinion or belief; think of, consider, employ the mind on a subject, reason”), from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną ‎(“to think, suppose, perceive”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- ‎(“to think, feel, know”). Cognate with Scots think, thynk ‎(“to think”), North Frisian teenk, taanke, tanke, tånke ‎(“to think”), Saterland Frisian toanke ‎(“to think”), West Frisian tinke ‎(“to think”), Dutch denken ‎(“to think”), Low German denken ‎(“to think”), dinken, German denken ‎(“to think”), Danish tænke ‎(“to think”), Swedish tänka ‎(“to think”), Norwegian tenke ‎(“to think”), Icelandic þekkja ‎(“to know, recognise, identify, perceive”), Latin tongeō ‎(“know”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: thĭngk, IPA(key): /θɪŋk/
  • Rhymes: -ɪŋk

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