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thought (thôt)
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v.
Past tense and past participle of think.
n.
1. The process of thinking; cogitation: sitting deep in thought at the computer.
2. A product of thinking or other mental activity: What are your thoughts on this matter? See Synonyms at idea.
3. The faculty of thinking or reasoning: Why not use thought instead of emotion to solve the problem?
4. The intellectual activity or production of a particular time or group: ancient Greek thought; deconstructionist thought.
5. Consideration; attention: didn't give much thought to what she said.
6.
a. Intention; purpose: My thought is to live in a house on a lake.
b. Expectation or conception: She had no thought that anything was wrong.
Idiom:
a thought
To a small degree; somewhat: You could be a thought more considerate.
[Middle English, from Old English gethōht, thōht; see tong- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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