thinkv.²

Brit.

/θɪŋk/, U.S.

/θɪŋk/

Inflections: Past tense and past participle thought Brit.

/θɔːt/, U.S.

/θɔt/,

/θɑt/;

Forms: 1. Present stem.

α. Old English þæncan, Old English ðæncan, Old English þæncean (rare), Old English þencan, Old English ðencan, Old English þencean, Old English ðencean, Old English ðenð (3rd singular indicative), Old English (before ðu)–Middle English þen (imperative), early Middle English þænce, early Middle English þence, early Middle English ðence, early Middle English þenh (imperative singular, transmission error), early Middle English ðenke, early Middle English þennke, early Middle English þennkenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English ðenþ (3rd singular indicative), early Middle English þeynke, early Middle English ðhenke, early Middle English thonketh (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), early Middle English yinge, early Middle English zenke, Middle English denke, Middle English ȝenk, Middle English ȝenke, Middle English þeinke, Middle English þenc, Middle English þenchke, Middle English þencke, Middle English þeneke, Middle English þenghke, Middle English þengke, Middle English þenk, Middle English tenke, Middle English þenke, Middle English þenkkez (3rd singular indicative), Middle English þenst (2nd singular indicative), Middle English þenxt (2nd singular indicative), Middle English þeynt (2nd singular indicative, perhaps transmission error), Middle English then, Middle English thence, Middle English thenck, Middle English thencke, Middle English thengke, Middle English thenk, Middle English thenke, Middle English þnecke (transmission error), Middle English yenk, Middle English yenke; Scottish pre-1700 theink, pre-1700 thenk. eOE (Kentish) Glosses to Proverbs of Solomon (Vesp. D.vi) in U. Kalbhen Kentische Glossen (2003) 145 Excogitat : ðenð.eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxix. 132 He ne mæg witan hwæt he þencð.OE Genesis B 408 Onginnað nu ymb þa fyrde þencean!OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 119 Ðænce se abbod..hu micele byrðene and hu hefigtyme he underfeng mid þam hade.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Domitian A.viii) anno 995 Toeacan his timan wearð gewin & sorh on þysum lande, ðæt nan mann ne mihte ðencan embe naht elles butan.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 49 Þe man þe..ne þencð no þing þat he þurue ben þe loþere.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 221 God..hi nefre ne bide nane niede to þan yfele rede, ne yfel to þence, ne to donne.a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 63 Qvanne I zenke onne þe rode..I wepe.c1300 St. Gregory (Laud) l. 50 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 357 Þou þencst..with þi conseil al rome to bi-traiȝe.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3563 And ðenk, louerð, quat ben bi-foren Abram and ysaac and iacob sworen.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2072 Of me ðu ðhenke ðan it sal ben. ▸ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. iv. 15 Thenk thou thes thingis.a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 15 Þeneke on yure synnys for to mende þaim. ▸ 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 490 Thenkyn, cogito.a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 38 Who..canne ymmagine or thenke the poyson and the venyme that the wicked and the viciouse kynge soweth in his realme!1583 R. Sempill Warning to Lordis v Thenk quhow the..heroun hunttis the froig Thai vill devoir and vrak ȝow ane and ane.

β. Old English þængst (2nd singular indicative), Old English ðencga (Northumbrian), Old English ðencgan, Old English þengan, Old English ðengca (Northumbrian), late Old English þængcð (3rd singular indicative), early Middle English þeng (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), early Middle English ðinge, Middle English þenge, Middle English ðenge, Middle English theinȝst (2nd singular indicative), Middle English thenge, Middle English thing, Middle English thinge, Middle English thinȝth (2nd singular indicative, before thou), Middle English thyng, Middle English thynge, Middle English thynghe, Middle English þing, Middle English þyng, Middle English þynge, Middle English ying. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xiv. 31 Quis rex..non..cogitat si possit cum decem milibus occurre [read occurrere] ei: huælc cynig..ahne..smeað uel ðencgað gifhueðer maeg mið teum uel tenum ðusendum iorna togægnes him.OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 62 Þam þe þas þing þengð to asmeagenne.a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 114 Ne þeng þu neuere þi lif to narruliche leden.c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 70 Hou thinȝth thou, nas heo hardi noȝt?a1400 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 258 Þeng wat þou art, & wat þou was.a1450 St. Etheldreda (Faust.) l. 112 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 285 Somme-what to ȝow of hym to speke we thengeþ.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 672 Scho..frayns him fast quat þe freke of hire fare thingis.c1500 (?a1475) Sir Landeval (Rawl. C. 86) (1889) 511 How dare ye now be so bolde With me to ride with-oute leve? Ye ought to thyng ye shuld me greue.

γ. Old English þincan (rare), Old English þyncan (rare), early Middle English ðinke, Middle English dynke, Middle English ȝink, Middle English ȝynke, Middle English thienk, Middle English thinc, Middle English thingke, Middle English thinkke, Middle English thnkes (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), Middle English thync, Middle English thyngke, Middle English thynk, Middle English þince, Middle English þincke, Middle English þingke, Middle English þink, Middle English þinke, Middle English þyncke, Middle English þyngke, Middle English þynk, Middle English þynke, Middle English yinc, Middle English yinck, Middle English yincke, Middle English yink, Middle English yinke, Middle English yynk, Middle English yynke, Middle English (1500s Irish English) tynke, Middle English–1500s thyncke, Middle English–1500s thynke, Middle English–1600s thinck, Middle English–1600s thincke, Middle English–1600s thinke, Middle English– think, late Middle English þnyke (transmission error), late Middle English ynk (transmission error), 1500s thyink; Scottish pre-1700 thinck, pre-1700 thincke, pre-1700 thinke, pre-1700 thynk, pre-1700 1700s– think, 1900s– hink. eOE Royal Psalter xxxvii.19 Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego pronuntio et cogitabo pro peccato meo : unryhtwisnesse mine ic cyþe ic þynce [eOE Vespasian Psalter ðenco, lOE Canterbury Psalter þynce] for synne minre.OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. 22 He wolde mid his eadmodnysse astellan ða bysne, þæt nan cyning ne nan rice man [OE Corpus Cambr. 178 nanum cyninge ne nanum rican menn] ne sceolde þincan to huxlic þæt he gebuge to cristes fulluhte.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Ne þince man na sellice þet we soð seggen.a1275 Body & Soul (Trin. Cambr. B.14.39) l. 124 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 143 Virmes sitten on his breid [read bresd] and eten of is chin; haues he neuer a frend þat þinkis out of him.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 21630 Mar..Than ani man mai þinc [Vesp. thing] in thoȝt.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14187 Sir, quat thinckes þou??a1400 Wt Ryth (Douce 381) in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 146 Annes, be now stedfaste on allewys, & dynke on me, my swete Annys.a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxlv. 1 Þe purere part of mannys saule þat thynkis þe wisdom of god.a1525 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Trin. Dublin) (1896) 22 Other, that wors is..vs tynken vndo that god shild!1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thyncke often, reputo, as.1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 78 Indeed I can not think, if I would thinke my heart out of thinking, that you are in loue.1648 tr. J.-F. Senault Paraphr. Job 360 To thinke..on their domesticke affaires.1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 10 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Thinck Sir! how you may avenge us and the Persians.1741 H. Walpole Let. 22 Oct. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) I. 13 Do but think on a duel between Winnington and Augustus Townshend.1853 C. Dickens Let. 28 Nov. (1993) VII. 218 One of the great uses of travelling is to encourage a man to think for himself.1991 R. Crawford in T. Hubbard New Makars 173 When Strathgawkers or Strathgowkersblether aboot jinin thegitheran a tourist hinks baithwaant thi wan hing.1996 S. King Desperation iii. v. 485 She was trying to think what to do next—hell, what to do first—but her thoughts kept junking up on her.

δ. early Middle English þench (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), early Middle English ðenche, early Middle English þunche (south-west midlands), Middle English þench, Middle English þenche, Middle English theching (present participle, transmission error), Middle English thenche, Middle English thynche, Middle English þinche, Middle English þynche. c1175 ( Ælfric's Homily on Nativity of Christ (Bodl. 343) in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 94 Hwilon heo þenchæþ [OE Julius þæncð] þa ðing ðe heo ær cuðe.a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 118 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 He sal hit þenche þanne.a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 61 Þet we ne þenchen ufel to don.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 65 To wac ha is istrengðet þet a windes puf a word mei afellen..ant hwa nule þunche wunder of ancre windfeallet?c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4267 And þench [c1300 Otho þinche] mid wulche deden þu miht werien þine leoden.c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 6534 Eten and drink men schal on benche And after mete in chaumber þenche.c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 67 Ther nys no man so wys þ^t koude thenche So gay a Popelote, or swich a wenche.a1450 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 4574 Ther was more good then man might thenche; Off sylver and gold, in that cyté.

2. Past tense

α. Old English–early Middle English ðohte, Old English–Middle English þohte, early Middle English þeohte (south-west midlands), early Middle English ðhogt, early Middle English ðhogte, early Middle English ðodte, early Middle English ðogte, early Middle English ðoȝte, early Middle English þohhte ( Ormulum), early Middle English þohute, early Middle English þoðte, early Middle English þouste, early Middle English ðowgte, early Middle English yohute, Middle English ȝoght, Middle English thoght, Middle English thoghte, Middle English thoȝt, Middle English thoȝte, Middle English thoht, Middle English thoucht, Middle English thoug, Middle English thouȝt, Middle English thouȝte, Middle English þhouȝte, Middle English thougth, Middle English thouht, Middle English thouhte, Middle English thowcht, Middle English thowghte, Middle English thowth, Middle English þochte, Middle English toght, Middle English þoght, Middle English þoghte, Middle English þoȝt, Middle English þoȝte, Middle English þoh (probably transmission error), Middle English þoht, Middle English þoucte, Middle English þouȝ, Middle English þought, Middle English þougt, Middle English þouȝt, Middle English þouȝte, Middle English þouȝth, Middle English þouȝtte, Middle English þouht, Middle English þouhte, Middle English þout, Middle English þoute, Middle English þoutȝ, Middle English þouth, Middle English þouthe, Middle English þouthte, Middle English þowȝt, Middle English þowȝte, Middle English þowȝth, Middle English þowȝthe, Middle English þowthe, Middle English toyght (northern), Middle English toyȝt (northern), Middle English youhte, Middle English 1600s though, Middle English (1800s– regional and nonstandard) thot, Middle English–1500s thoughte, Middle English–1500s thowght, Middle English– thought, 1500s thaught, 1700s– tho't (regional and nonstandard), 1800s thocht (Irish English (northern)); English regional 1700s– thoft, 1700s– thort, 1700s– thout, 1800s thowte, 1800s– thate (Berkshire), 1800s– thoat (south-western), 1800s– thot (south-western), 1800s– thowt; U.S. regional 1800s thort, 1900s– thot; Scottish pre-1700 thoch, pre-1700 thochte, pre-1700 thoght, pre-1700 thoichit, pre-1700 thoight, pre-1700 thot, pre-1700 thoth, pre-1700 thouch, pre-1700 thouchte, pre-1700 thouȝte, pre-1700 thowght, pre-1700 thoycht, pre-1700 1700s tho't, pre-1700 1700s– thought, pre-1700 1800s thowcht, pre-1700 1800s– thocht, pre-1700 1800s– thoucht, pre-1700 (1800s– Shetland) tocht, 1700s– tought (chiefly Shetland and Orkney), 1800s– toucht (Shetland and Orkney), 1900s– thoat, 1900s– thowt, 1900s– tout (Orkney), 1900s– towt (Shetland).

β. early Middle English þuhhte ( Ormulum), early Middle English ðuhte, Middle English thught, Middle English þught, Middle English þuȝt, Middle English þuhte.

γ. late Middle English thynkyd, 1900s– thinked (English regional).

δ. 1800s– thunk (English regional (Yorkshire) and Irish English (northern)).

ε. 1800s– thoughten (English regional (Shropshire)).

OE Blickling Homilies 7 Heo..ðohte hwæt seo halettung wære.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7312 Herode..þohhte þohh to cwellenn himm.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12071 Þuhte [c1300 Otho wiste] [see sense 13].c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 630 He þoute [c1300 Otho þohte] of his swefne.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2278 He þoðte heo to habben to his awere bihoue.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 2652 Hengist þoȝte þe king & is bytraye.a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 855 Sche þout þroly in herte þat leuer hire were.a1400 Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 985/43* Our lord ȝoght to tak mankynd and bring vus oute of woo.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3352 Ysaac..Thoght on thing he had to done.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 2039 Þe ȝonger broþer þuȝt ful wa.c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 848 Wel hym semed for-soþe, as þe segge þuȝt.c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 314 Whan tyme cam, men thoughte it for the beste That reuel stynte and men go to hir reste.a1425 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 212 I thougth ful litel on thilke day.a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) l. 9558 They thoug that they wold been Fyrst in the feld to be wele seen.1450 W. Lomnor in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 36 He thowght he was desseyuyd.c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 16739 Sho toyȝt [v.r. thoght] more þen scho sayd, bot mekyll myrth þei made.c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 928 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 90 Fore[-þi] I thowcht I wald nocht dwell.1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 69 He Thoucht that suld pass ane other way.1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 90 Tha thocht it greit folie.c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3189 Fele of þe folke febull it thughten.1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. ix. 146 I thought good to speak this.1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. xiii. 105 I thoft he had been an Officer himself.1805 R. Anderson Ballads in Cumberland Dial. 13 The breyde now thowt it time for bed; Her stockin doff'd, and flang 't quite soft.1864 B. Lloyd Ladies Polcarrow 102 I thoft, if so be you would be so handsome as to spake a word for me.1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style v, in Enoch Arden, etc. 130 I niver knaw'd whot a meän'd but I thowt a 'ad summat to saäy.1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 264 The ancient philosophers..thought of science only as pure abstraction.1879 W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. (1978) I. 161 Very bad spells, unable sometimes to walk a block (sometimes tho't it all nearing the end).1897 W. Dyke Craiktrees 156 I thort of you all the journey.1897 Shetland News 12 June Dey widna luik at him becaas dey tought he wis made o' hagery wirsit.1901 E. G. Hayden Trav. round Village 209 I was on piquet duty an' I thinked of you.1911 J. Conrad Under Western Eyes i. iii. 70 ‘What does he want with me?’ he thought with a strange dread.1956 W. M. Williams Sociol. Eng. Village vi. 135 It were a terrible thing for a lass to go into t'pub or smoke in t'street; aye man, folk thowt it were a sin tha went straight till Hell for.1971 Black World Mar. 53/1 She wuzn't sure but she thot it had.1997 J. Whinray Down 'long weth we 4 Well, I never thoft anybody wud ax that question. 3. Past participle

α. Old English geþoht, Old English geðoht, Old English–early Middle English þoht, early Middle English geþouht, early Middle English ithoȝt, early Middle English iþouht, early Middle English iþout, early Middle English þoch (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English þohht ( Ormulum), Middle English ithought, Middle English iþoȝt, Middle English iþoht, Middle English iþohte, Middle English iþought, Middle English iþouȝt, Middle English thocht, Middle English thofte, Middle English though (perhaps transmission error), Middle English thouȝt, Middle English thouȝte, Middle English thowcht, Middle English thowght, Middle English thowt, Middle English þoght, Middle English þoȝt, Middle English þoȝte, Middle English þought, Middle English þouȝt, Middle English þouȝte, Middle English þouhte, Middle English þout, Middle English þouth (East Anglian), Middle English yoght, Middle English ythoght, Middle English ythought (in print of lost Middle English MS), Middle English ythouȝt, Middle English yþoȝt, Middle English yþouȝt, Middle English yþout, Middle English–1600s thoght, Middle English–1600s thoughte, Middle English– thought, 1500s thorte, 1500s thowthe, 1500s–1600s thoft, 1700s–1800s tho't (regional and nonstandard), 1700s– thot (regional and nonstandard); English regional 1700s–1800s thoft, 1800s– thart (south-western), 1800s– thout, 1800s– thowt; Scottish pre-1700 thochte, pre-1700 thoght, pre-1700 thoicht, pre-1700 thot, pre-1700 thoucht, pre-1700 though, pre-1700 thout, pre-1700 thoycht, pre-1700 1700s– thought, pre-1700 1800s thowcht, pre-1700 1800s– thocht, pre-1700 (1900s– Shetland) tocht, 1800s tought (Shetland), 1900s– toucht (Shetland), 1900s– towt (Shetland and Orkney); also Irish English (northern) 1800s thocht, 1900s– thot, 1900s– thoucht.

β. 1800s thoughtit (Scottish), 1800s– thoughted (English regional (south-western)).

γ. 1800s– thunk (English regional (Yorkshire)).

δ. 1800s– thinken (English regional (Yorkshire)).

ε. 1700s 1900s– thoughten (archaic); English regional (northern and midlands) 1600s– thoughten, 1800s– thouten, 1800s– thowten; Scottish 1900s– thochten.

OE Confessionale Pseudo-Egberti (Junius) 170 Ofðinceð þe ealles þæs [þe] ðu to yfele geworht hæfst and geþoht and gecweden?c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2364 Wel haffde þohht to libben.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 71 Ure ateliche sinnes þe we hauen don and queðen and þoht.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6721 Þat he hæfde iþoht ær.c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 513 Ich haue yþouȝt.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 20092 Quat has þou thoght [Fairf. þoȝt, Trin. Cambr. þouȝt, Coll. Phys. þoȝte]?c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiii. l. 268 Þis wil be þouȝte [v.r. þouȝt on] longe.1427–8 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1427 §25. m. 5 Ye desired to have had þe governaunce of þis land..alleggyng for you such groundes and motyves as it was þought to youre discretion maad for youre entent.?1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 80 Yt was thought to my lorde off Wynchestre that my seyd lorde off Gloucestre toke vpon himsylff fferrer thanne his auctorite stretched vnto.c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 380 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 40 To do þis, hafe I thowcht.c1480 (a1400) St. Matthew 135 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 194 As men..thocht had.1482 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 314 To have a sustenans..as cane be thofte..resounabyll.1512–13 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 284 Such warkmen as shall make the Battyllment of our church of Breke or ston or led as shal be thorte best.1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxviii^v If I coude haue made chere to one, and ythought another.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxvj This was thought to be done for this intent.a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 31 These deeds must not be thought After these wayes.1696 T. Dilke Lover's Luck iv. 35 I thinken I ought to be thoughten so here.1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. xix. 19 The only advantage I pretend to, is that I have always thought and judged for myself.1789 W. Barrett Hist. & Antiq. Bristol ii. 37 Oxen and sheepe is thoughten to have beene the moste earlie Monie or Change.1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner xvi. 298 But there's this to be thought on, Eppie: things will change.1881 T. Hardy Laodicean I. iv. 43 It was thoughted worthy of being recorded in history.a1886 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) III. 1148 The right to perish might be tho't An undisputed right.1897 Longman's Mag. Nov. 10 Who ever'd ha' thart o' doin' sich a thing?1921 S. Phillips Coll. Plays 53 That bliss may be too sudden, may be slow, Howe'er it come; but it is thoughten wise, Not planned, not calculated.1961 A. Ginsberg Empty Mirror 55 You'd think I would have thought a plan to end the inner grind.1962 New Shetlander No. 62. 6 Naebody at saa her wid ever a tocht At shö bör sic a tap-swaar lodd.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian thanka , thenkia , thenzia , tinsa , etc., past tense thogte , tochte (present stem forms with stem vowel i may perhaps result from merger with a cognate of think v.¹; West Frisian tinke ), Old Dutch thenken , past tense thāhta (Middle Dutch denken , dinken , Dutch denken ), Old Saxon thenkian , past tense thāhta (Middle Low German denken ), Old High German thenken , denken , past tense thāhta , dāhta (Middle High German denken , German denken ), Old Icelandic þekkja , past tense þekkti , in early use also þátti , Old Swedish þækkia , Old Danish tække , Gothic þagkjan , past tense þāhta < the same Germanic base as thought n., thank n., and i-thank n., probably < the same Indo-European base as Old Latin tongēre to know (only in Ennius, as reported in a quotation in the 8th cent. a.d. writer Paulus Diaconus), Oscan tanginom opinion; a different ablaut grade is shown by think v.¹Old English þencan belongs (like þyncan think v.¹) to the subclass of weak Class I verbs in which the formative -i- of the present stem is absent in the past, hence the absence of i-mutation in the past tense and past participle. The Old English past tense þōhte shows loss of the postvocalic nasal and compensatory lengthening. The lengthened vowel of the past tense (and past participle) would have been subject to shortening before ht in late Old English or early Middle English. Old English spellings such as þencean (see Forms 1α) point to assibilation and affrication of the stem-final plosive; Middle English and later forms with medial -ch- (see Forms 1δ) clearly show the reflexes of Old English assibilated forms. By contrast, the Middle English and later forms with medial -k- (see Forms 1α, 1γ) lack assibilation; they probably derive < Old English forms of the 2nd and 3rd singular present indicative such as þencst , þencþ , where, as a result of syncopation, the consonant of the ending immediately followed the stem and prevented the assibilation of c (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §438). Apparent confusion of Old English þencan with the morphologically and semantically similar þyncan think v.¹ (as also of their corresponding prefixed forms) is evidenced in a few isolated examples (see quots. eOE, OE, lOE at Forms 1γ and compare discussion at think v.¹); on the eventual formal merger in Middle English between think v.¹ and think v.² see discussion at think v.¹ In Old English the prefixed form geþencan i-thenche v. is also attested in the same senses and also in the senses ‘to imagine, conceive’ (compare sense 5a), ‘to call to mind, remember’ (compare sense 7b), ‘to take into consideration’ (compare sense 10a), ‘to consider to be’ (compare sense 13a), ‘to think out, design, to perceive after consideration, learn’; compare also aþencan to think about, intend (compare a- prefix¹), beþencan bethink v., eftþencan , an element-by-element gloss of Latin recordari to remember, foreþencan forethink v., forþencan forthink v., geondþencan to contemplate, to examine every part of (life) (compare yond prep.), ofþencan to recall to mind (compare of- prefix), oferþencan overthink v.¹, underþencan to consider, to change one's mind, repent (compare under- prefix¹ and also underthink v.), ymbeþencan umbethink v.

I. With emphasis on the action or process. The most general verb for expressing internal mental activity, excluding the simple perception of external things or passive reception of ideas. Essentially predicated of humans, but also (in any sense) in extended or figurative use, as of gods, animals, plants, or natural forces personified.

1. To form or hold in the mind (an idea, image, or intuition); to carry out (something) as a mental operation.

a. transitive. With simple object (usually indefinite or cognate).to think the unthinkable: see unthinkable adj. and n. Additions.

ΚΠ

eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxix. 132 Þeah hwa mæge ongitan hwæt oðer do, he ne mæg witan hwæt he þencð.

OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxlv. 3 Ealle þa geþohtas þe hi þohtan ær.

a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 79 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 165 (MED) He wat wet þenkeð and hwet doð alle quike wihte.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 27101 Vr thoghtes ar þai be thoght.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 2541 Fals louers..in herte cunne thenke a thyng And seyn another in her spekyng.

a1500 St. Brendan's Confession (Lamb.) l. 194 in Geibun-Kenkyu (1968) 25 13 I haue noþing..þouȝt, spoke, and doon þat I schulde not haue þouȝt, spoke, ne do.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxiiii Whatsoeuer he thought in his Imaginacion.

1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. vii. 50 To thinke so base a thought .

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 180 Any man that sees what I am doing, may easily perceive what I think.

1793 J. Boswell Life Johnson (ed. 2) anno 1778 III. 52 Many a man thinks, what he is ashamed to avow.

1871 S. Smiles Character i. 22 They think great thoughts.

1895 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 303 Don't begin to think hard things now.

1919 E. Glasgow Builders i. xiii. 205 Have you dared to think such a thing?

1956 E. Muir One Foot in Eden 57 Pity him, for he cannot think the thought Nor feel the pang that yet might set him free.

1970 College Eng. 31 824/2 What are we to think when the devices which the writer employs..are no longer merely the traditional figures of rhetoric and poetic?

1997 A. R. Ammons Glare 62 I tell myself to think happy thoughts but can't think of any: still.

b. transitive. With a direct statement, question, or exclamation as object. Also in corresponding indirect constructions (see also senses 2a, 5a, 7b, 8b, 11a(a)).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > think or have in mind [verb (transitive)]

holdOE

thinkOE

makea1400

carry1583

entertain1583

lodge1583

conceit?1589

reflect1611

braina1616

OE Blickling Homilies 21 Swiþe eaþe þæt mæg beon þæt sume men þencan oþþe cweþan, ‘hu mæg ic secan þæt gastlice leoht?’

lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 97 Ne sceal he naðer ne cweðen ne þæncen, ‘Ic forleas min gode weorc, þe ic ær worhte.’

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 87 Oðer hwile he ðe wile undernemen and ðus ðe don þenchen: ‘Hwi wilt ðu ðurhwuniȝen on ðine sennes anon to ðine deaðe?’

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1741 Þouthe ubbe, ‘Yf I late hem go..So mote ich brouke finger or to, For þis wimman bes mike wo!’

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 1138 ‘Alas,’ þoȝt I, ‘who did þat spyt?’

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 939 Parfay thoughte he, fantome is in myn heed.

a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 112 He thought to him selfe, ‘how many this be?’

1611 Bible (King James) 2 Kings v. 11 I thought, He will surely come out to me.

1637 J. Milton Comus 20 Ô poore haplesse nightingale thought I.

1688 J. Bunyan Advocateship Christ Clearly Explained 16 Do not therefore think of thy self above what by plain Texts, and fair Inferences, drawn from Christ's Offices, thou art bound to think. What doth it bespeak concerning thee, that Christ is always a Priest in Heaven.

1693 R. Bentley Confut. Atheism from Origin of World: 3rd Pt. 16 If any one shall think with himself, How then can any thing live in Mercury and Saturn?

1719 D. Waterland Vindic. Christ's Divinity vii. 119 And you might think; what could it signify to date his Being Higher?

1754 Coll. Hymns Children of God in All Ages (Moravian Church) ii. ccv.153/1 They thought: What is't to be as angels fine, If we're not wash'd in Jesu's Blood divine?

1788 G. A. Stevens Songs, Comic & Satyrical (new ed.) in Lect. on Heads (new ed.) 190 Only think what is man?

1842 Ld. Tennyson Dora in Poems (new ed.) II. 33 He..often thought ‘I'll make them man and wife’.

1911 J. Conrad Under Western Eyes i. iii. 70 ‘What does he want with me?’ he thought with a strange dread.

1943 D. Whipple They were Sisters ii. 24 She must break it to him about the girls. It was not that he didn't like them, she thought, but that he didn't like visitors.

1993 J. Meades Pompey (1994) 85 He thought: she's had it away with my gin, the cheap little thief—and so she had.

2. To turn over in the mind, meditate on, ponder over, consider.

a. With indirect question or exclamation as object. (For direct construction see sense 1b.)

(a) transitive. In reference to a fact or possibility.

ΚΠ

OE Blickling Homilies 7 Þæt heo Maria æfter þæs engles bletsunga & halettunga lange smeade, & swigende ðohte hwæt seo halettung wære.

c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 173 Sanctus Petrus wæs swiðe mid þam wuldre ofercumen þe he þær iseah, þæt he for þon ne þohte hwæt he speke.

a1350 (?c1225) King Horn (Harl.) (1901) l. 1163 Horn..seide, ‘quene, þou þench what y þreu in þe drench.’

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1323 (MED) Seth bigan to thinc for-qui þat þis tre bi-com sua dri.

1486 Bk. St. Albans e ij b Thynke what I say my sonne nyght and day.

a1500 Legend of Cross in Medium Ævum (1965) 34 214 (MED) Bigan hym silf to thynk whi this tree was so naked.

a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) 574 Howe many daies haue we spent, & yet neuer thought why any day was giuen vs?

1601 S. Daniel Ciuill Warres (rev. ed.) vi. lxxiv. f. 92^v, in Wks. Thinke whether this poore State..Stands not in need of some vpraysing hand.

1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 145 Think, when your castigated pulse Gies now and then a wallop, What ragings must his veins convulse, That still eternal gallop.

1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain Pref. p. viii The young should take one hint, to think whether their hopes and upward-breathings are truly upwards.

1881 A. Trollope Dr. Wortle's School II. iv. 65 Mrs. Wortle began to think whether the visitor could have known of her intended absence.

1918 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 29 61 Nicholas Bulstrode in Middlemarch, watching by the bedside and allowing himself to think whether the death of the patient would not on the whole be ‘for the glory of God’.

1967 Perspecta 11 67 Now think whether you would like to spend your life at Yale.

1981 L. Lochhead Grimm Sisters 25 The lady thought as she drifted off to sleep How monotonous it would be To live on rabbit stew forever.

2003 G. G. Duffy Explaining Reading ii. 99 We have to think whether we have experience with dogs ‘singing out’.

(b) transitive. In reference to something to be done, with implication of purpose or intention (cf. senses 8, 9).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > intend [verb] > intend to do something

weenOE

willOE

thinkOE

tightc1300

to be (later also to have it) in purpose1340

tend1340

cast138.

reckona1450

aimc1450

willc1450

esteema1533

suspect1629

predeterminea1641

OE St. Andrew (Corpus Cambr.) in F. G. Cassidy & R. N. Ringler Bright's Old Eng. Gram. & Reader (1971) 214 And hie þohton hu hie hine acwellan meahton.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 137 (MED) Ðe gode mann is niht and daiȝ þeinkinde hu he muȝe gode icwemen, and him betst hersumen.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4267 And þench [c1300 Otho þinche] mid wulche deden þu miht werien þine leoden.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §757 Thynkynge how she myghte brynge this nede vn to a good conclusion.

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iv. viii. 184 He began to thynke in what maner he myght escape the deth.

1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades x. 183 So that I to him brought From out your campe some certain newes, & whervpon you thought, Whether you meant to take the sea, or to your tackle stand.

1591 H. Smith Pride Nabuchadnezzar 4 Then was hee stalking in his galleries, and thinking what sinne should be next.

a1605 W. Haughton English-men for my Money (1616) sig. E4 Oh maister Mouse,..it would make any Mouse, Ratte, Catte, or Dogge, laugh to thinke, what sport we shall have.

1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 10 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Thinck Sir! how you may avenge us and the Persians.

1703 N. Rowe Fair Penitent iv. i Think, whom I shou'd devote to Death and Hell, Whom Curse, as my Undoer, but Lothario.

1778 F. Burney Evelina II. ii. 38 A thinking what he should do.

1852 H. W. Herbert Cavaliers of Eng. iii. 391 It seems to me it were my first essay to get a husband, not to think how to lose one.

1882 R. Jefferies Bevis III. ix. 142 Could you think how to make a fish-spear?

1929 Pacific Affairs 2 695 He is constantly to think how to serve heaven and earth.

1961 Numen 8 174 Sit for about an hour and think how to keep both your outer and your inner senses from the stains of sin.

1996 S. King Desperation iii. v. 485 She was trying to think what to do next—hell, what to do first—but her thoughts kept junking up on her.

b. transitive. With simple object. Now only: to have one's mental processes full of, centred on, or influenced by; to formulate or hold ideas in terms of (cf. sense 2c).In Old English also with genitive of object.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > meditate upon [verb (transitive)]

thinkOE

overthinkOE

recorda1400

studya1400

imaginec1405

revolve?c1425

contemplairec1525

brood1589

recollect1626

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > conceive, form in the mind [verb (transitive)]

readOE

thinkOE

bethinkc1175

makea1400

imaginec1400

conceive?a1425

suppose1586

conceit1591

ideate1610

braina1616

forma1616

engross1632

cogitate1856

conceptualize1873

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > imagine or visualize [verb (transitive)]

seeOE

thinkOE

bethinkc1175

devise1340

portraya1375

imagec1390

dreama1393

supposea1393

imaginea1398

conceive?a1425

fantasyc1430

purposea1513

to frame to oneselfa1529

'magine1530

imaginate1541

fancy1551

surmit?1577

surmise1586

conceit?1589

propose1594

ideate1610

project1612

figurea1616

forma1616

to call up1622

propound1634

edify1645

picture1668

create1679

fancify1748

depicture1775

vision1796

to conjure up1819

conjure1820

envisage1836

to dream up1837

visualize1863

envision1921

pre-visualize1969

the mind > attention and judgement > attention > earnest attention, concentration > fix the attention, concentrate [verb (transitive)] > in one direction

concentre1643

think1821

concentrate1860

to zero in1955

OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) v. 1 Ongyt mine stemne and min gehrop, and ðenc þara worda minra gebeda.

OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxviii. 117 Gefultuma me fæste; ðonne beo ic fægere hal, and ic þine soðfæstnysse symble þence.

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 118 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 Al þat afri man haueð idon..he sal hit þenche þanne.

a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 19 (MED) Wanne i ðenke ðinges ðre ne mai hi neure bliðe ben.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. iv. 15 Thenk thou thes thingis.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 24064 I thinc it euer and ai.

a1400 Psalter (Egerton) i. 2 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 130 And his lagh þincke he night and dai.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 31 These deeds must not be thought After these wayes.

1725–6 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. 133 Is it not a derogation to Ulysses, to think nothing but what the Goddess dictates?

1821 Ld. Byron Diary 29 Jan. in Poet. Wks. (1846) 505/1 They talk Dante—write Dante—and think and dream Dante.

1859 Habits Good Society Pref. A horse-dealer..if he thinks nothing but horses, he cannot be good society.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. ii. 96 Unless thou hast been drinking beer and thinking beer.

1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Oct. 7/2 The present generation of Greeks talks French but thinks German.

1913 Eng. Jrnl. 2 172 You see nothing but neckties and gloves, you think nothing but receptions and teas.

1935 Music Educators Jrnl. 22 16/2 If we wish to do big things we must think big things and never forget that there are no impossibilities.

2007 Washington Post (Nexis) 19 Nov. a1 ‘A lot of people think nothing but polygamy’ when they hear of the Mormons.

c. transitive. With adjective as complement or used adverbially: to have one's mental processes full of, centred on, or influenced by, or to concentrate on, things that are of the specified kind or quality (cf. sense 2b). Frequently in slogans. Esp. and earliest in to think big (see also big adv. 2c).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)] > in specified way

unmuddled1825

think1903

the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > aspire [verb (intransitive)]

affect?a1425

aspirec1460

affectate1560

to think big1903

trod1909

to raise one's sights1950

1903 P.E. Burrowes Revolutionary Ess. in Socialist Faith & Fancy v. 40 When they..find that in order to relieve one poor little fellow's trouble they must relieve the president's, they begin to think big.

1954 N. V. Peale in Washington Post 5 June 18/7 Think big, believe big, pray big.

1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship xv. 300 Living in a small town had subtly affected my mind, and I had begun to Think Small.

1970 in M. Pei Words in Sheep's Clothing ii. 14 For those who think old!

1972 D. Haston In High Places xii. 139 With people pulling off tricks like the West Ridge, Dhynenfurth was not day-dreaming in thinking tall.

1979 Now! 21 Sept. 134/3 Simple, uncluttered and tubular they illustrate fashion's new mood of ‘think thin’.

1981 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 2/3 (heading) ‘Think British’ call to CBI firms.

2007 J. Craig One Team in Tallinn vii. 87 He was wearing a tartan baseball cap which had a piece of plastic stuck on its front, the bit of plastic having ‘Think Scottish’ printed on it.

3. To exercise or occupy the mind, esp. the understanding, in any active way; to form connected ideas of any kind; to allow or cause a train of ideas to pass through the mind; to meditate, cogitate.

a. intransitive. With about, of, on, upon (archaic), †by (rare), †to (rare), or †umbe.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)]

howOE

mintOE

thinkOE

panse1559

tink1584

excogitate1630

cogitate1633

intelligize1803

nut1919

cerebrate1928

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > think about, consider [verb (intransitive)]

thinkOE

bethinka1200

umthinka1300

to have mind ofc1300

casta1340

studya1375

delivera1382

to chew the cudc1384

to take advisementa1393

stema1400

compassc1400

advisec1405

deliberc1405

to make it wisec1405

to take deliberationc1405

enter?a1413

riddlec1426

hovec1440

devise?c1450

to study by (also in) oneself?c1450

considerc1460

porec1500

regard1523

deliberate1543

to put on one's thinking or considering cap1546

contemplate1560

consult1565

perpend1568

vise1568

to consider of1569

weigh1573

ruminate1574

dascanc1579

to lay to (one's) heart1588

pondera1593

debate1594

reflect1596

comment1597

perponder1599

revolvea1600

rumine1605

consider on, upon1606

to think twice1623

reflex1631

spell1645

ponderatea1652

to turn about1725

to cast a thought, a reflection upon1736

to wake over1771

incubatea1847

mull1857

fink1888

OE Blickling Homilies 57 Myccle swiðor we sceolan þencan be þæm gastlicum þingum þonne be þæm lichomlicum.

OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity (Corpus Cambr. 201) 123 Riht is, þæt munecas..inweardre heortan a to Gode þencan and geornlice clypian.

OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxvii. 8 God ys on dryhten georne to þenceanne.

lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 97 Seo soðe geðyld is, þæt mann hwylce uneðnysse on anweardnysse ellenlice aræfne, & næfre emb þa wræce ne þænce, ac hit on his heorte forgyfe.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 17 Ac ðu..noldest þenchen of ðine forðsiðe.

c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 32 Ac Floriz þencheþ al on oþer, For he net ne dronk riȝt noȝt.

c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 446 Nou is deþ a wonder þing And grislich for to þenken on.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 15612 To thinc apon his care.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 9977 [She] þouȝte neuer to wicked dede.

1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 6 Think & loke wele vpon your werkis without hasting you.

a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1980) ii. 299 (MED) Let hym þinkyn of þe byttir pynys þat Crist suffryd in hys syde, hondis and feet.

a1500 ( Vision E. Leversedge (1991) 129 Do penaunce þerfor þat He wille forȝif þem þer offencis and never more to thinke þerupon.

c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 26 Who now thought of nothing, but the pursute of Vanity, and the confus'd imaginations of Young men.

1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 100 It..makes him think upon Pay-day.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. viii. vi. 263 Think of it well ere you proceed.

1798 M. Edgeworth & R. L. Edgeworth Pract. Educ. II. xxi. 578 Children whose minds are well managed about trifles, will retain good habits when they are to think about matters of consequence.

1831 Times 20 Sept. 3/4 In the fervour of joy which took place at the late coronation, it was impossible to think of every thing that might be done by the King to gratify his people.

1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner xvi. 298 But there's this to be thought on, Eppie: things will change.

1886 H. James Bostonians xxi. 188 He had thought a great deal about social and economical questions.

1939 H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn 79 After that I began to think about another woman, the wife of one of my friends who always twitted me about my indifference.

1945 College Eng. 6 382/2 Were his boys to misuse their time by reading Browning, Milton, and Shakespeare? It was not to be thought of.

1955 Recorded Interview (Brit. Libr. Sound Archive) (Survey Eng. Dial.: C908) (MS transcript) Track 46 [Yorkshire] I used to milk about 15 cows..beore I got my breakfast, hand-milk. Think on, it wasn't machine-milking.

1979 G. Swarthout Skeletons 196 They offered him a thousand dollars... He said he'd think on it.

2001 W. J. Doherty Take back your Marriage 176 It's just something to think about, like the notion of building a new patio for the house some day.

b. intransitive. Without following preposition introducing the object of thought and often with adverbial. to think aloud (also out loud): to express one's thoughts by audible speech as they pass through the mind. to think for oneself: to form independent judgements, not to be over-influenced by preconceptions or received opinions.to give (one) furiously to think: see give v. Phrases 8; to hear oneself think: see hear v. 3d; to think outside the box: see box n.² Phrases 7; to think straight: see straight adv. 1g.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > independence > be independent [verb (intransitive)] > be uninfluenced by others

to think for oneself1735

to live one's own life1833

the mind > language > speech > monologue > talk in monologue [verb (intransitive)]

soliloquize1759

to think aloud (also out loud)1789

monologue1825

Hamletize1844

monologuize1870

monologize1890

OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxiv. 63 He eode ut on þæt land, ðencende [L. egressus fuerat at meditandum in agro].

OE Ælfric Homily: De Doctrina Apostolica (Hatton 115) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 623 Paulus, þeoda lareow, cwæð.., Ða ða ic wæs lytel and iung,..ic þohte swa swa lytlingc [L. cogitabam ut parvulus].

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xiii. 11 Whanne I was a litil child..I thouȝte as a litil child.

c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 17 (MED) He leue vs þenche and worchen so Þat he vs schylde from vre fo.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 53^v (MED) He þat ys Malancolie is..proud in maneris & in berynge, þenkynge to myche by him silf, and also he loueþ to goon aloone.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thinke muche, reputo.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. iv. 1 When I would pray, & think, I thinke, and pray To seuerall subiects.

1677 J. Dryden State Innocence ii. i. 8 That I am I know, because I think.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. i. 40 There is something in us, that has a Power to think.

1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. xix. 19 The only advantage I pretend to, is that I have always thought and judged for myself.

1765 O. Goldsmith Traveller (ed. 2) 20 Those who think must govern those that toil.

1789 W. W. Grenville Let. 12 Apr. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinet George III (1853) II. 141 If I were to write volumes to you, I could only enlarge upon these points, on which I have already fully written to you, and with the same freedom and sincerity as if I were thinking aloud.

1853 C. Dickens Let. 28 Nov. (1993) VII. 218 One of the great uses of travelling is to encourage a man to think for himself.

1858 H. S. Randall Life T. Jefferson I. xiii. 505 These off-hand, bold expressions of his are not perhaps oftener erroneous than those of other men, who dare, like him, to think out loud.

1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic i. 10 To think is to make clear through Concepts something already otherwise represented or known to consciousness.

1891 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 1 383 The right to think independently in religion.

1920 Science 16 Jan. 57/1 His aim with young students was..to teach them to think for themselves.

1958 J. Wain Contenders vi. 127 I was standing there, thinking gloomily along these sort of lines, when Ned came up to me.

1974 Times 1 May 6/6 Those matters were thoroughly probed..the President often taking the role of devil's advocate; sometimes merely thinking out loud.

1974 D. L. Edwards What Anglicans Believe xii. 100 Anglican laymen have been encouraged to think for themselves.

1995 R. Dove Mother Love 38 He only wanted me for happiness: to walk in air and not think so much.

2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Dec. ix. 13/5 I don't see smoking as a ritual... It gives me time to think.

c. intransitive. not even to think about (also of): to refrain from pursuing or even considering (something, esp. a particular course of action). Now frequently in imperative, esp. in don't even think about it!: on no account carry out the action implied or specified.

ΚΠ

1751 E. Haywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless III. v. 64 ‘I will not hear a word on that head,’ cried Mr. Trueworth, hastily interrupting him, ‘and if you would add to the favours you have already conferred upon me, do not even think of it.’

1835 M. W. Shelley Lodore III. ii. 15 ‘Indeed, indeed, love,’ she replied, ‘we will not be separated again.’ ‘We will not even think about that tonight,’ said Villiers.

1875 A. Trollope Way we live Now I. xxvii. 171 She had no plan of revenge yet formed. She would not talk of revenge,—she told herself that she would not even think of revenge,—till she was quite sure that revenge would be necessary.

1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, here I Come! i. 36 It taught you a lesson. Didn't it just? Now I wouldn't even think of travelling.

1992 D. Parry & P. Withrow Jacamar Nest xlii. 298 Harry jerked forward in his chair but the woman swung the barrel of the gun around to his temple, and there was a click like the sound of a door locking as she thumbed back the hammer. ‘Don't even think about it,’ she said.

2001 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 1 Apr. They had a bag on the side [of the director's chair] for scripts and drinks, his name on the back and his warning on the seat: ‘Don't even think about it’ to keep others from sitting in his chair.

†4. transitive. To experience, feel (an emotion) as a response to something, esp. an action or circumstance (regional in later use); †to think wonder (also ferly): to feel wonderment (obsolete). Now only in to think scorn of, to think (it) scorn at scorn n. 4, to think shame, to think it shame at shame n. Phrases 2. Obsolete.Probably replacing think v.¹ 1 in this context: cf. quots. OE, lOE¹.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > happen or move unexpectedly [verb (intransitive)] > feel surprised

to think wonder (also ferly)lOE

to have wondera1400

admirec1429

startle1562

to think (it) strange of (or concerning)1585

to come short?1611

strange1639

to think (it) much1669

admirize1702

to go (all) hot and cold1845

to take to1862

surprise1943

not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1961

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > be a matter of wonder [verb (intransitive)] > regard with wonder

to think wonder (also ferly)lOE

bemaze1879

OE Blickling Homilies 179 For teonan me þincþ wundor.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1085 Hit is sceame to tellanne, ac hit ne þuhte him nan sceame to donne.]

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Ne þince man na sellice þet we soð seggen.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 65 To wac ha is istrengðet þet a windes puf a word mei afellen..ant hwa nule þunche wunder of ancre windfeallet?

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10601 Hir freindes..Thoght ferli hou sco þider wan.

a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 17 (MED) Many haddyn gret enuy and mych wondyr thoght of Robert de Barry.

1796 J. Lauderdale Coll. Poems Sc. Dial. 8 Dinna think..Tho' now I wipe my face, And drop the heart felt, friendly tear, I think the least disgrace.

c1880 W. G. Lyttle Paddy McQuillan 11 Puir fellow! A thought a peety o' him.

5. To form or have an idea of (a thing, action, or circumstance) in one's mind; to imagine, conceive, fancy, picture.

a. transitive. With object clause or †simple object, referring to something real or imaginary. Now chiefly in colloquial phrases you can't think and variants, and (with disjunction of object) just (also only) think!

ΚΠ

OE Wulfstan Creed (Hatton 113) 164 Nis æfre ænig man þe sylf geþencan cunne oðþon oðrum areccan mæge hwylce þa mærða & ða myrhða syn.]

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1761 Cristess hallȝe bede maȝȝ Towarrd hiss faderr forþenn Vnnseȝȝenndlike mare inoh ðann aniȝ wihht maȝȝ þennkenn.

a1325 St. Kenelm (Corpus Cambr.) l. 110 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 283 (MED) Þis luþer quene biþoȝte hure of an felle wrenche, For me seiþ þer nis no felonie þat womman ne can þenche.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 647 Es nan forsoth wit hert mai think,..þe mikel ioy þat þam es lent.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 67 Ther nys no man so wys þ^t koude thenche So gay a Popelote, or swich a wenche.

1415 Rolls of Parl. IV. 85/1 As free..as hert may thynk, or eygh may see.

a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 38 (MED) Who..canne ymmagine or thenke the poyson and the venyme that the wicked and the viciouse kynge soweth in his realme!

1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream Epil. 2 Thinke but this..That you haue but slumbred here.

1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. viii. 23 Thou seest not what thou thinkst before thy eye.

1782 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2012) V. 191 You can't think how I'm incumbered with these Ruffles!

1864 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 220 Only think! I get my new milk again, at eight.

1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. xxii. 281 What the deuce put it into my head to run away at all, I can't think!

1920 C. B. De Mille Royal Mounted iii. 61 Just think—you might be hit with a trolley car and ye'd never see another sunset.

1964 ‘S. Woods’ Trusted like Fox xi. 105 I can't think why they don't get a car.

1995 D. Coupland Microserfs (1996) iii. 142 Just think, in 50 years these same kids will be sitting at the switches of our life-support systems.

b. intransitive. With of or (archaic) on, referring to something real or imaginary.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > imagine or visualize [verb (intransitive)]

areachc1220

supposea1393

thinka1400

framea1529

to conceive of1570

humour1605

imagine1631

conceive1658

realize1658

visualize1871

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18802 Quat hert mai thinc o suilk honur.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 185 He had..all maner of foules & of bestes þat ony man myghte thenke on.

a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1980) ii. 318 (MED) What may ben þout of ony goodnesse, þer schal it ben fondyn.

1554 M. Huggarde Path waye to Towre of Perfection sig. C^v Thinking of that ioy my hart did reuiue.

1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iii. v. 106 Thinke of that hissing heate.

1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 41 The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather that can be thought of.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 89. ¶3 I shall endeavour to shew the Folly of Demurrage... I would have them seriously think on the Shortness of their Time.

1741 H. Walpole Let. 22 Oct. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) I. 13 Do but think on a duel between Winnington and Augustus Townshend.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 99 Can I think of her as dead?

1844 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 125 Think of the rocococity of a gentleman studying Seneca in the middle of February 1844 in a remarkably damp cottage.

1861 J. Pycroft Agony Point xlvi Think of me ever being rich!

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 264 The ancient philosophers..thought of science only as pure abstraction.

1937 W. M. Raine Bucky follows Cold Trail vi. 65 To think of that warm smile and the gay friendliness of the long-lashed eyes wiped out forever filled her with sharp compunction.

1969 I. Murdoch Bruno's Dream xi. 94 When I was very young..I thought of God as a great blank thing, rather like the sky.

2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 Apr. viii. 1/1 There is a Hollywood instinct to think of female boxing as a destitute gal's career choice alternative to exotic dancing.

c. transitive. With simple object, referring to something real: to form a definite conception of by a conscious mental act; to picture in one's mind, apprehend clearly (with or without direct perception).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > conceive, form in the mind [verb (transitive)] > something real

conceit1557

think1864

1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic i. 5 We..are thus enabled to think the landscape as a whole.

1885 J. Martineau Types Ethical Theory (ed. 2) I. i. xi. §8. 212 When you think this equation [i.e. the surface of a sphere = area of circle of twice its diameter].

1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xx. 203 We think the ocean as a whole by multiplying mentally the impression we get at any moment when at sea.

a1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 489 I want men and women to be able to think sex, fully, completely, honestly and clearly.

1978 National Geographic Nov. 615/2 When people think apple,..they usually think red.

2003 I. Ryder in N. Ind Beyond Branding ix. 152 The last few years have seen a significant shift in the way marketing inside technology companies has developed brand positioning and messages (think Orange, think Sony, think Intel).

6. transitive. With adverbial: to bring into or out of a specified condition by the exercise of the mind; to imagine what it would be like to be in (a position or role). Frequently reflexive.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > imagine or visualize [verb (transitive)] > bring about by imagining

think1600

opinionate1650

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 78 Indeed I can not think, if I would thinke my heart out of thinking, that you are in loue.

1666 R. South Serm. preached at Lambeth-Chappel 19 He that Thinks a man to the ground, will quickly endeavour to Lay him there.

1759 O. Goldsmith Let. c13 Jan. (1928) 58 I have thought myself into settled melancholly.

1825 Pocket Mag. Classic & Polite Lit. 3 411 He fairly thought himself into a sweat.

1866 H. Bushnell Vicarious Sacrifice ii. iv. 187 We hardly dare think them..into our finite molds.

1958 C. Tomlinson Seeing is Believing (1960) 36 They think us back To that first green, which the mind Tender-skinned, since grazed to the pain of sight, shrank at.

1987 R. Ingalls End of Trag. 120 Trouble is, I'm too used to thinking myself into a part.

2003 M. D. Sheriff in K. Frederickson & S. E. Webb Singular Women 53 But could I glimpse through her self-representations how the artist thought herself out of patriarchal definitions?

II. With emphasis on an idea, image, or intuition that is the object or result of the action.

7. To call (a fact, circumstance, or other consideration) to mind.

a. intransitive. To exercise the mind about or consider a particular matter; to reflect. Now often in it makes you think.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > think about, consider [verb (intransitive)]

thinkOE

bethinka1200

umthinka1300

to have mind ofc1300

casta1340

studya1375

delivera1382

to chew the cudc1384

to take advisementa1393

stema1400

compassc1400

advisec1405

deliberc1405

to make it wisec1405

to take deliberationc1405

enter?a1413

riddlec1426

hovec1440

devise?c1450

to study by (also in) oneself?c1450

considerc1460

porec1500

regard1523

deliberate1543

to put on one's thinking or considering cap1546

contemplate1560

consult1565

perpend1568

vise1568

to consider of1569

weigh1573

ruminate1574

dascanc1579

to lay to (one's) heart1588

pondera1593

debate1594

reflect1596

comment1597

perponder1599

revolvea1600

rumine1605

consider on, upon1606

to think twice1623

reflex1631

spell1645

ponderatea1652

to turn about1725

to cast a thought, a reflection upon1736

to wake over1771

incubatea1847

mull1857

fink1888

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > indicating reflection [phrase]

for all the worlda1375

let me seec1405

let us (also let's) see1764

it makes you think1879

OE Beowulf (2008) 289 Æghwæþres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescad witan, worda ond worca, se þe wel þenceð.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) v. 21 Þa agunnon þencan [L. cogitare] þa boceras & Farisei & cwædon, hwæt is þes þe her sprycþ woffunga?

1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull B6 Thinke well and thou shalt speake wel.

1604 R. Pricket Honors Fame sig. D 3 Stay, pawse, thinke, sigh, weepe first, & then read on.

1733 J. Swift Epist. to Lady 7 Metaphorick Meat and Drink, Is to understand, and think.

1800 W. Cowper Inscr. Tomb Hamilton in Poems (new ed.) II Pause here, and think.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Dora in Poems (new ed.) II. 34 Consider: take a month to think.

1862 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 286 I somehow fancy a line of nonsense will catch you at Ely: and yet, now I come to think, you will have left Ely, probably.

1879 J. Blackwood Let. 14 Jan. in ‘G. Eliot’ Lett. (1956) VII. 94 I have been reading it all with great interest, and it does make one think.

1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine i. 41 I wonder why it [sc. a carrier pigeon] had a message from Swansea... Makes you think, that, doesn't it?

1968 G. Mitchell Three Quick & Five Dead ii. 67 ‘But young Otto is a psychopath!’ said Laura. ‘Makes you think a bit, that does,’ agreed the Superintendent.

1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird x. 127 Remember how Comer came bursting in one evening?.. It makes you think, doesn't it?

1981 P. O'Donnell Xanadu Talisman iv Please think before you speak.

1999 J. Cassidy Street Life 119 He'd only done a runner from me because our arguing had upset him so much he'd needed time to think.

b. transitive. With object clause: to call to mind after having neglected or forgotten; to consider, reflect upon; to recollect, remember, bear in mind. Often in the infinitive as the main verb in an exclamation, introducing a statement of a fact regarded as remarkable or surprising.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > call to mind, recollect [verb (transitive)]

i-thenchec897

bethinkOE

mingOE

thinkOE

monelOE

umbethinkc1175

to draw (also take) into (or to) memorya1275

minc1330

record1340

revert1340

remembera1382

mindc1384

monishc1384

to bring to mindc1390

remenec1390

me meanetha1400

reducec1425

to call to mind1427

gaincall1434

pense1493

remord?1507

revocate1527

revive1531

cite1549

to call back1572

recall1579

to call to mind (also memory, remembrance)1583

to call to remembrance1583

revoke1586

reverse1590

submonish1591

recover1602

recordate1603

to call up1606

to fetch up1608

reconjure1611

collect1612

remind1615

recollect1631

rememorize1632

retrieve1644

think1671

reconnoitre1729

member1823

reminisce1829

rememorate1835

recomember1852

evoke1856

updraw1879

withcall1901

access1978

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > consider, deliberate [verb (transitive)]

i-thenchec897

showeOE

i-mune971

thinkOE

overthinkOE

takec1175

umbethinkc1175

waltc1200

bethinkc1220

wend?c1225

weighc1380

delivera1382

peisea1382

considerc1385

musec1390

to look over ——a1393

advise?c1400

debatec1400

roll?c1400

revert?a1425

advertc1425

deliberc1425

movec1425

musec1425

revolvec1425

contemplec1429

overseec1440

to think overc1440

perpend1447

roil1447

pondera1450

to eat inc1450

involvec1470

ponderate?a1475

reputec1475

counterpoise1477

poisea1483

traversec1487

umbecast1487

digest1488

undercast1489

overhalec1500

rumble1519

volve?1520

compassa1522

recount1526

trutinate1528

cast1530

expend1531

ruminate1533

concoct1534

contemplate1538

deliberate1540

revolute1553

chawa1558

to turn over1568

cud1569

cogitate1570

huik1570

chew1579

meditatec1580

discourse1581

speculate1599

theorize1599

scance1603

verse1614

pensitate1623

agitate1629

spell1633

study1659

designa1676

introspect1683

troll1685

balance1692

to figure on or upon1837

reflect1862

mull1873

to mull over1874

scour1882

mill1905

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > expressing surprise [phrase]

it (or that) is (was, were, etc.) no wonder1362

it is (a) wondera1400

the wonder is‥1608

you could (or might) have knocked me (etc.) down with a feather1740

think1746

for a wonder1782

to hush one's mouth1903

you'd be surprised1926

OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) lxiii. 104 Sed cogitet semper quia de omnibus judiciis et operibus suis redditurus est deo rationem : ac he þænce simle þæt he be eallum his domumum [read domum] & weorcum be his is to gildanne.

lOE Distichs of Cato (Trin. Cambr.) xi, in Anglia (1972) 90 6 Þonne þu geselgost sio, þenc þonne þæt þu mæge unselða geðolian gif heo ðe on becumen: forðam þe se ende & þæt angin ne bið ealne weg gelic.

c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 173 Leofæ men, we sceolen..understonden and þencen hwæt þe heofenlice Kyng for us ðrowode.

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 17 (MED) Fleschliche þonkes..eggið þe to brudlac..ant makied þe to þenchen hwuch delit were þrin.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 257 (MED) Þe ilke eddre..be-charmeþ þe riche men Ac huo þet..stoppeþ þet on eare mid erþe, þet þengþ þet he is of erþe and to erþe ssel come..ssolde..by wel ytempred.

a1400 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 258 (MED) Þeng wat þou art, & wat þou was.

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) i. iii. 15 Yf thou be a man thinke that thou shalt dye.

a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 106 (MED) Conforte the in this caas and thyncke that the bruyt of thine enemyes ys not perdurable.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 49 I am afraid, to thinke what I haue done.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 135 Fool, not to think how vain Against th' Omnipotent to rise in Arms.

1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles ii. i. 272 To think that Asses should in Judgement sit, In solid Deafness, on the Works of Wit.

a1774 O. Goldsmith tr. P. Scarron Comic Romance (1775) II. vii. 71 To think that there would one day be a counter marriage between us.

1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 13 Helen smiled..To think that a boy as fair as he..The like sweet fancies had pursued.

1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss I. ii. 9 I am afraid to think how long it is since fan-shaped caps were worn.

1906 H. Belloc Hills & Sea 30 To think that you can get to a place like that for less than a pound!

1946 M. Peake Titus Groan 337 To think that an hour earlier she had been helping to plait those locks.

1958 W. F. Jackson Knight tr. Virgil Aeneid (rev. ed.) iii. 83 My comrades..engaged in their sports just as on the wrestling-grounds of their old home, happy to think that they had safely escaped their enemies.

1997 J. Updike Toward End of Time 252 My heart leaped up gleefully, to think that Ned had come a cropper.

2003 E. M. Schwartz Land of Mountains xv. 112 I shuddered to think what had almost happened to those birds.

c. With of (on, †upon): to remind oneself of, hit upon mentally, call to mind, remember. See also sense 9b.

(a) intransitive. In general use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > have in one's mind, remember [verb (intransitive)] > something specified

thinka1225

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 9 Ne ge ne geþenceað [L. recordamini] þæra fif hlafa & fif þusend manna & hu fela wyligena ge namon?]

a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 59 He [sc. God] walde þet he [sc. Man] of him þohte, þet he lufede him mid þoht[e].

a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 57 Ȝef vs of þi grace þat we mowe dai ant nyht þenken o þi face..hit doþ me god when y þenke on Iesu blod.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1860 Our lauerd þan on noe thoght.

c1450 (c1400) Emaré (1908) l. 951 The emperour..þowȝt on hys synne; Of hys þowȝtyr Emare, That was putte yn-to þe see.

a1536 W. Tyndale Briefe Declar. Sacraments (?1548) a vj b God..promysed that thei shuld be thoght vpon before the lord yir god & saued from their enemies.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thynke vpon me, memento mei.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 536 Haue you thought on A place whereto you'l go?

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. ii. 138 The most conuenient place, that I can thinke of..is Black-Fryers.

1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull in his Senses iv. 21 There's a small Concern of a Thousand Pounds, I hope you think on't, Sir.

1793 T. Pennant Lit. Life 20 I never did think on The holies who dwell near the o'erlooker of Lincoln.

1807 A. Cherry Peter the Great 14 Dear mother—such an accident! I tremble but to think on't.

1930 C. Williams War in Heaven ii. 23 He's made them into a little volume which ought to have a good sale. So, of course, I thought of you.

1950 Obituary Notices Fellows Royal Soc. 7 158 When I think of Henderson as a person and of the impression he made on me as such, two characteristics stand out.

1965 S. Suhrawardy in M. Shamsie Dragonfly in Sun (1997) 3 And I think on the days Which..I passed in the pleasant land of Shi-fo.

2003 Yale Law Jrnl. 112 985 I thought of that moment a year later.

(b) intransitive. to come to think of it: to consider or reflect on the matter in question. Frequently in (when one) come(s) to think of it: when one considers or reflects on the matter; on consideration or reflection.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > [adverb] > on consideration

comelOE

all things seena1325

umbethoughta1500

considering1740

(when one) come(s) to think of it1759

1759 J. Fawcett Dialogues Other World iii. 27 It is indeed, says Philander, when one comes to think of it, but a kind of dismal Reflection to think evil Angels so near us, and the good on the other Hand at so great a Distance.

1838 R. H. Froude Remains II. xiv. 179 When one comes to think of it abstractedly, it seems hardly conceivable, that any person should be so blind.

1859 F. W. Faber Spiritual Conf. 180 Perhaps an abrupt transition: but not so, when you come to think of it.

1943 E. M. Almedingen Frossia ii. 59 Come to think of it, I never knew why I married Hugo.

1991 Z. Edgell In Times like These xi. 62 When you come to think of it, I really don't know too much about the issues.

2002 A. Cumming Tommy's Tale (2004) 68 Now that I come to think of it, I was overreacting a bit about the flirtus interruptus.

(c) intransitive. Chiefly in negative contexts, followed by infinitive: to have it occur to one or have the presence of mind to do something.

ΚΠ

1853 Leisure Hour 6 Oct. 650/2 I thought, you wouldn't have come in such weather, and I didn't think to look for you inside, anyhow.

1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve I. ix. 174 ‘What I dislike most, is George's having kept it from me.’ ‘I daresay he did not think to mention it to you,’ said Mrs. Darling, soothingly.

1931 Pop. Aviation Apr. 23/3 Did he think to throttle his motor or cut his switch? he did not.

1994 D. H. Fischer Paul Revere's Ride 79 The questions that he did not think to ask were never answered at all.

d. intransitive. to think again: to reconsider a particular matter, to realize that one is mistaken, change one's mind, have second thoughts.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > change of opinion > change one's opinion [verb (intransitive)]

bowa1000

forthinkc1380

to think again1493

recogitate1603

deflect1612

wheel1632

to turn round1808

to flop (over)1884

budge1930

1493 Tretyse of Loue (de Worde) sig. Gij Thenne after thynke agayn yet.

1595 Countess of Pembroke tr. R. Garnier Trag. Antonie iii. sig. D5 But thinke againe, nothing is dureable, Vertue except.

1660 J. Sadler Olbia 178 The affinity between our Life, and a Beast, in Hebrew, and in Solomon, may bid us think again.

1706 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1872) X. 165 Therefore must beg her excuse till I can retrieve one minute or two of liberty to think again.

1828 B. Barton New Year's Eve 111 Riches, health, are these thy lot?.. Hast thou neither? Think again; Blessed was e'en the widow's mite.

1850 C. Mackay Egeria 156 You've heard my answer, proud Maclaine. I will not fight you—think again.

1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married in Doctor's Dilemma 291 So youre not coming home with me. Hotchkiss..: Yes I am. Mrs. George: No. Hotchkiss: Yes. Think again.

1935 ‘C. S. Forester’ Afr. Queen ii. 35 It would blow this ole launch..to Kingdom Come. You think again, miss.

1958 P. Shore in N. Mackenzie Conviction 37 Those who imagine that the problem of the public schools will disappear..will have to think again.

1974 M. Gilbert Flash Point xiii. 109 It was a put-up job. If they think I'm going to sit down under it, they can think again.

2004 S. Quigley Run for Home (2005) xii. 214 If that arsehole thinks he can swan back here whenever the fancy takes him, he can fucking well think again.

e. transitive (reflexive (with me, etc.)). With of (or †on), †simple object, or †that: = senses 7b, 7c. Cf. bethink v. II. Now archaic.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > remember [verb (reflexive)]

mingOE

bethink?c1225

umbethinka1300

rememberc1350

rememberc1405

record1483

remembera1522

think1556

revive1774

1556 tr. J. de Flores Histoire de Aurelio & Isabelle sig. G6 I thinckes me neuer the lesse..that you haue saide an exemple of the peacock.

a1676 J. Dunton Dialogical Disc. Adonibezeck sig. A 2, in Heavenly Pastime (1685) I thought me then the blasting Fate of Vulgar men.

1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 200 I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep.

a1851 D. M. Moir Poet. Wks. (1852) II. 351 I thought me of the old times,—of the halls Of ancient castles mouldering to the dust.

1890 ‘W. A. Wallace’ Only a Sister 325 I thought me at last of the vestry window.

1916 J. W. Riley Compl. Wks. III. 709 The sea was breaking at my feet, And looking out across the tide, Where placid waves and heaven meet, I thought me of the Other Side.

1937 G. D. Mitchell Backs to Wall xiv. 170 One day I thought me of Scotland, where any Australian is completely at home.

1953 P. S. Allfrey Orchid House 116 Meanwhile the wind had come up, and I thought me of how next day the banana fields would look like a battlefield of wounded soldiers.

f. intransitive. to think better of: see better adj., n.¹, and adv. Phrases 10.

g. intransitive. to think twice: (a) to give particularly careful consideration to something; also in the proverb think twice, then speak and variants; (b) (with about) to hesitate, change one's mind (about), decide against (an action); (c) (with about in a negative context) (not) to take notice of or worry about.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)]

haltc825

flecchec1300

waverc1315

flickerc1325

wag1387

swervea1400

floghter1521

stacker1526

to be of (occasionally in) many (also divers) minds1530

wave1532

stagger1533

to hang in the wind1536

to waver as, like, with the wind1548

mammer1554

sway1563

dodge1568

erch1584

suspend1585

float1598

swag1608

hoverc1620

hesitate1623

vacillate1623

fluctuate1634

demur1641

balance1656

to be at shall I, shall I (not)1674

to stand shall I, shall I1674

to go shill-I shall-I1700

to stand at shilly-shally1700

to act, to keep (upon), the volanta1734

whiffle1737

dilly-dally1740

to be in (also of, occasionally on) two minds (also in twenty minds, in (also of) several minds, etc.)1751

oscillate1771

shilly-shally1782

dacker1817

librate1822

humdrum1825

swing1833

(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1848

to back and fill1854

haver1866

wobble1867

shaffle1873

dicker1879

to be on the weigh-scales1886

waffle1894

to think twice1898

to teeter on the brink1902

dither1908

vagulate1918

pern1920

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute about [verb (transitive)]

stagger1555

hesitate1623

to think twice1936

1623 W. Painter Chaucer New Painted sig. B 1^v Thinke twise, then speak, the old Prouerbe doth say.

1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? vii. 277 You thinke twice before you speake, and may be demanded twice before you answer.

1728 J. Smedley Gulliveriana 273 He despis'd what was wrong, and abus'd what was right: Had a Knack to laugh luckily, never thought twice.

1825 L. M. Child Rebels xvii. 233 In the days of my youth, a single lady would have thought twice before she undertook any thing so grossly improper.

1898 G. B. Shaw Philanderer iii. 119 He thinks twice before he commits himself.

1902 E. Hubbard in Philistine May 192 Think twice before you speak and then talk to yourself.

1910 G. F. Hill in Archaeologia 62 140 Had I come across this MS. at the beginning of my search, I should have thought twice before going on.

1936 W. H. S. Smith Let. 21 Nov. in Young Man's Country (1977) ii. 43 When they find that I am neither a Blue..nor a bridge-player, they may think twice about offering the appointment to me.

1955 M. Hastings Cork & Serpent v. 67 Don't worry. Nobody here thinks twice about me.

1981 P. Salway Roman Brit. 705 This must make us think twice before attributing reasons to any funerary or religious practice from the ancient world for which we have no written evidence.

2002 L. Olsen Girl Imagined by Chance 175 When you were young, we didn't think twice about putting you in the backseat of the car and just taking off.

h. intransitive. With on (adverb): to remember. Now regional (chiefly English regional (northern)).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > call to mind, recollect [verb (transitive)]

i-thenchec897

bethinkOE

mingOE

thinkOE

monelOE

umbethinkc1175

to draw (also take) into (or to) memorya1275

minc1330

record1340

revert1340

remembera1382

mindc1384

monishc1384

to bring to mindc1390

remenec1390

me meanetha1400

reducec1425

to call to mind1427

gaincall1434

pense1493

remord?1507

revocate1527

revive1531

cite1549

to call back1572

recall1579

to call to mind (also memory, remembrance)1583

to call to remembrance1583

revoke1586

reverse1590

submonish1591

recover1602

recordate1603

to call up1606

to fetch up1608

reconjure1611

collect1612

remind1615

recollect1631

rememorize1632

retrieve1644

think1671

reconnoitre1729

member1823

reminisce1829

rememorate1835

recomember1852

evoke1856

updraw1879

withcall1901

access1978

1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 226 I much wonder that now thou thinkest on at last to ask me that.

a1800 S. Pegge Suppl. Grose's Provinc. Gloss. (1814) Think on, think of it, as I will if I think on.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Think-on, to remember. ‘Be sure to mind to think-on’.

1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk at Think on Ah lay t'lad's clean forgot, he can nivver think on.

1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. at Think-on When Ah cooms te think-on, it'll be a matther o' twinty years sin.

1992 P. MacCann in First Fictions Introd. 11 210 ‘Tomorrow...Wax Museum. You and me.’ He said it firmly, pointing the handkerchief. ‘Think on.’

i. intransitive. to think back (on or to), to look back (on) reflectively, consider with hindsight.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > retrospection, reminiscence > look back, retrospect [verb (intransitive)]

to look backward?c1450

to look back1529

to look backwards1598

recoila1616

retrospect1664

run1692

revert1820

reverie1832

to think back (on or to)1901

to job backwards1907

1901 ‘Zack’ Tales Dunstable Weir 231 I thought back on the days us had been together.

1960 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 June 387/1 I think back to the sixth forms of the twenties.

1965 H. Gold Man who was not with It (new ed.) iii. 29 Goombye, I thought back to him.

1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Oct. 1327/2 When I think back on it now, that was the best thing I could have done.

1989 D. G. Thomas Adv. Swimming 42 Now think back to the moment you first began to press, elbows high, forearms and hands pointing forward.

2003 M. Mirolla Berlin 175 I think back on the events of the previous two days.

8. To form or hold an idea in the mind with a view to action, to conceive or entertain the notion of doing something; to intend, purpose, design, mean. In early use often not distinguishable from sense 9; in later use mostly implying an unfulfilled, temporary, or incomplete intention: cf. thought n. 6a.

†a. intransitive. With adverbial complement: to intend to go; to direct one's course. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)]

thinkeOE

bowa1000

seta1000

scritheOE

minlOE

turnc1175

to wend one's wayc1225

ettlec1275

hieldc1275

standc1300

to take (the) gatec1330

bear?c1335

applyc1384

aim?a1400

bend1399

hita1400

straighta1400

bounc1400

intendc1425

purposec1425

appliquec1440

stevenc1440

shape1480

make1488

steera1500

course1555

to make out1558

to make in1575

to make for ——a1593

to make forth1594

plyc1595

trend1618

tour1768

to lie up1779

head1817

loop1898

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. ix. 101 Þæt he þara ælces ehtend wolde beon,..þe þæs wordes wære þæt from Romebyrg þohte.

OE Homily: De Temporibus Anticristi (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 200 On ða wisan, þe man hors gewæpnað, þonne man to wige þencð.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14029 Þu to Rome þohtest.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 12179 [Arthur] passed Burgoyne..vnto Ostun, þider he þouht.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. l. 175 (MED) I frayned hym first fram whennes he come, And of whennes he were, and whider þat he þouȝte.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1121 Now airis he furthe with his ost, to Egist he thinkes.

b. transitive. With infinitive or †object clause: to purpose or intend to do.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)]

willeOE

meaneOE

minteOE

i-muntec1000

thinkOE

ettlea1200

intenta1300

meanc1330

forn-castc1374

intendc1374

ettlea1400

drive1425

proposec1425

purpose1433

attend1455

suppose1474

pretend1477

mindc1478

minda1513

pretence1565

appurpose1569

to drive at ——1574

thought to1578

hight1579

pretent1587

fore-intend1622

pre-intend1647

design1655

study1663

contemplate1794

purport1803

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)] > to do something

thinkOE

trow1340

intendc1374

believea1393

deemc1475

OE Beowulf (2008) 1535 Swa sceal man don, þonne he æt guðe gegan þenceð longsumne lof.

OE Blickling Homilies 151 Þa Iudeas..þohton þæt hie woldan ofslean þa apostolas.

a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 61 (MED) God us ȝefe in horte to fon þet we ne þenchen ufel to don.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 312 He [sc. Herod] seide he wulde him leuen on & ðoȝte he wulde him fordon.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 1181 Iulius þe emperour..þoȝte to sle al þat folc.

c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 16 Ferst he þougt assaye whiche of ham louede him most and best.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 532 To the castell thai thoucht to fair.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. ii. 1 Salomon thoughte to buylde an house vnto the name of the Lorde.

1585 Abp. Whitgift in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) (Camden) 44 This Paper..which I had thowght to have delivered unto you my self yesterday.

1606 E. Scott Exact Disc. East Indians sig. E3 I ranne vp, thinking to fetch it, and to throw it into a ponde on our backe side.

1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 16 With them Joyn'd all th' Haranguers of the Throng, That thought to get Preferment by the Tongue.

1709 R. Gould Satyr against Wooing in Wks. II. 37 He..thinks to gain a Mistress by his Head.

1798 J. O'Keefe Tantara-rara i. ii, in Dramatic Wks. IV. 362 Thinking to skip up again on my perch—Whisk! I saw the coach out of sight.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere in Poems (new ed.) I. 155 You thought to break a country heart For pastime.

1878 T. Hardy Return of Native II. iv. ii. 256 He..thought he would send for his mother; and then he thought he would not.

a1918 S. O'Kelly Irish Short Stories (1976) 75 He thinks to put us off by play-acting.

1989 M. Richler Solomon Gursky was Here (1990) I. vi. 36 While he was napping on a sofa, Lady Franklin, thinking to warm him, spread over his legs the British ensign she was embroidering.

2006 A. Parkin in M. Atkins & R. Osborne Poverty in Rom. World iv. 67 Asking whether a man who has taken up the garb of a Cynic thinks to impress the crowd with it.

c. transitive. With simple object (usually entailing an action, frequently evil or harm). Now archaic.In Old English also with genitive of object.

ΚΠ

OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) v.11 And gedo þæt hy n[e m]ægen don þæt yfel þæt hy þencað and sprecað.

OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxl.11 Synwyrcende, þa þe unrihtes æghwær þenceað.

a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 221 Hi nefre ne bide nane niede to þan yfele rede, ne yfel to þence, ne to donne.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 306 Wo so seieð oðer god & ðenkeð iuel on his mod Fox he is & fend iwis.

c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 1 (MED) Þat good þenkeþ, good may do.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4124 (MED) To stint wald he..þe foly þat his breþer thoght.

a1500 (?a1400) Morte Arthur (1903) l. 1655 How in an Appelle he dede the galle And hadde it thought to syr gawayne.

1553 R. Ascham Let. 24 Mar. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 14 To whom yow never intended to think any harm.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 661 Peace is despaird, For who can think Submission?

1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci i. i. 6 While yet Manhood remained to act the thing I thought.

1858 Irish Metrop. Mag. 3 369 Poor queen! she never thought harm to any through her gentle life.

1910 W. C. Bronson tr. Battle of Maldon in Eng. Poems 46 Then one hardy in war went forward..and stepped towards the hero; so went the resolute earl to the man: each of them thought evil to the other.

1996 D. A. Olsen Music of Warao of Venezuela viii. 237 The bahanarotu begins to sing..,‘Your father thought evil... He thought evil to you.’

†d. transitive. With infinitive: to seem likely to do; only in thought to: was on the point of, nearly did ——. Cf. French penser à. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)]

willeOE

meaneOE

minteOE

i-muntec1000

thinkOE

ettlea1200

intenta1300

meanc1330

forn-castc1374

intendc1374

ettlea1400

drive1425

proposec1425

purpose1433

attend1455

suppose1474

pretend1477

mindc1478

minda1513

pretence1565

appurpose1569

to drive at ——1574

thought to1578

hight1579

pretent1587

fore-intend1622

pre-intend1647

design1655

study1663

contemplate1794

purport1803

1578 N. Baxter tr. J. Calvin Lect. upon Jonah 9 The shyppe thought to be broken.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xi. 45 b A Northerly wynde..thought to haue made vs turne backe agayne.

1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 46 With so ill a will hee went, that hee had thought to haue topled his burning carre..into the sea (as Phaeton did).

e. intransitive. With of and gerund or verbal noun.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > be or seem likely [verb (intransitive)]

appeara1530

to have some show1556

think1579

to look like1594

to put fairc1595

had liked to1600

to show for ——1776

fare1850

show1901

1579 J. Harmar tr. J. Calvin Serm. X. Commandementes viii. f. 60^v When wee think of doing wrong, of striking and beating our neighbours, of conceiuing any hate or despite against them, wee set murder alwayes before our eyes.

1612 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. I. ii. v. 27 It is a base cowardlinesse..to thinke of running away.

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 9 We began to think of returning.

1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 216 You must not think of going till you take..dinner with us.

1812 G. Crabbe Tales xviii. 329 Each thought of taking to himself a wife.

1861 C. Kingsley Lett. (1877) II. 133 I hear you think of getting into Parliament.

1894 J. T. Fowler in St. Adamnan Vita S. Columbae Introd. 60 He thought of going to Rome and Jerusalem, and did go to Tours.

1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse i. xviii. 180 We thought of going down to the beach to watch the waves.

1960 Observer 20 Mar. 42 The British Government is thinking of releasing new weapons to Israel.

2000 Times 10 Nov. 22/7 Terry, on the other hand, is thinking of taking up ski-jumping, on the ground that he could not be any worse at it than DJ Eddie.

†f. intransitive. With of and personal object: to consider for a vacancy, or esp. with a view to a marriage; to cherish the notion or intention of marrying. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > seeking marriage > seek in marriage [verb (transitive)] > consider with a view to marrying

think1670

1607 G. Wilkins Miseries Inforst Mariage sig. B Scar. What thinke you of me for a Husband? Clar. Let me first know, what you think of me for a wife?]

1670 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 17 Lady Exeter..could heartily wish that you thought of her niece Lady Betty.

1759 Campaign II. iii. 18 Tho' perhaps he might never have ventured to think of Leonora, but for his mother's orders; yet once put on the scent, he would not give over the chace.

1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 230 I trust to your prudence, not to think of Flora..for you can't..marry a girl with so small a fortune.

1856 C. Patmore Espousals ii, in Angel in House II. 31 You, with your looks and handsome air, To think of Vaughan!

1899 H. James Awkward Age vi. xxi. 210 Are you ‘really’ what they call thinking of my daughter?

9. To determine on in the way of a plan or purpose; to find out or hit upon (a way to do something) by mental effort; to contrive, devise, plan, plot. Cf. to think out at Phrasal verbs; see also sense 8.

a. transitive. With simple object or †infinitive. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > invention, devising > invent, devise [verb (transitive)]

findeOE

understand1297

devisea1300

shapec1381

warpa1387

enginec1400

weavec1420

reparel1434

studyc1530

conjecture1551

spina1575

ingeniate1592

think1599

to pattern out1601

decoct1602

smooth1603

to fetch about1611

fancy1635

plait1642

erect1646

OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxi. 10 Nellað ge gewenan welan unrihte oþþe to reaflace ræda þencean.

OE Cambridge Psalter (1910) xx. 12 Quoniam declinauerunt in te mala, cogitauerunt consilium, quod non potuerunt stabilire : forþon hi onhyldon on þe yfyl hi þohton geþeaht þæt hi ne meahton gestaðulfæstan.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 1071 Brutus bethouht hym of quantyse: quantise behoues hym nedly thynk þat his enmy salle wate a blenke.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 181 b/1 Thou cursyd wretche now thynke to saue thy lyf.

1599 E. Topsell Times Lament. xxxii. 367 He doth not take away thy children or thy goods, but first he thinketh a way how to restore them againe.

1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. v. sig. I2 Let's thinke a plot.

1678 E. Howard Man of Newmarket iii. 28 Suppose I think a way to increase the merit of one in the worth of both, would this pose you?

1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. ix. 212 It was this lady's disposition to think kindnesses..and to scheme benevolence.

1906 R. Kipling Puck of Pook's Hill 11 ‘She's thought a plan,’ Dan explained. ‘She always does like that when she thinks a plan.’

1961 A. Ginsberg Empty Mirror 55 You'd think I would have thought a plan to end the inner grind.

b. intransitive. With of, †on (or †upon).

ΚΠ

1481 (a1470) J. Tiptoft tr. Buonaccorso da Montemagno's Declam. Honoure in tr. Cicero De Amicicia (Caxton) sig. f3^v I gaue my sylf hoolly & fully, to the weal publyque of this cyte, And whan I had doo so, I neuir stynted to thynke vpon the weale and thencreace of the same.

1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iii. sig. Hh.iiii [He] neuer thinketh vpon other but to please her.

1590 R. Hitchcock tr. F. Sansovino Quintesence of Wit f. 33 He giues time to the enemy, not so much to thinke vpon the waies how to defend himselfe, as to make preparations to endamage and offend thee.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. iv. 46 What shall be done with him? What is your plot? Mist. Pa. That likewise haue we thoght vpon.

1630 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 158 His Majesty..hath thought of a way.

1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris (new ed.) 49 'Tis..their Misfortune not to have Thought of an Alphabet.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 422 She..took all the ways she could think on to ruin him.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. Ded. p. iv It was by your Desire that I first thought of such a Composition.

a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) II. 121 Derham..was the first who thought upon this method of measuring the heights..by the barometer.

1856 H. B. Stowe Dred I. xxiii. 324 It is the usual instinct, in all such cases, to think of means of prolonging life.

1924 B. Tarkington Midlander xviii. 318 ‘But why don't you think of a way that would do?’ she asked..after one of her failures. ‘You're a lawyer; you ought to be able to think of something.’

1955 G. Greene Quiet Amer. iii. i. 185 All over Saigon innocent bicycle-pumps had proven to be plastic bombs and gone off at the stroke of eleven... ‘What'll they think of next?’ people said at parties.

1997 Dazed & Confused June 50/2 I used to think of ways of having them murdered, but now I get on really well with them.

c. intransitive. to think on one's feet: to react to events or arguments quickly and effectively.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)] > quickly

to think on one's feet1848

1838 C. Lyell Let. 6 Sept. in C. Darwin Corr. (1986) II. 101 It is a country where, as Tom Moore justly complained, a most exaggerated importance is attached to the faculty of thinking on your legs.]

1848 Christian Examiner & Relig. Misc. July 133 Washington could not have made an oration to save his life, and Jefferson..had but small power of thinking on his feet.

1890 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 28 233 In debate ‘he thought upon his feet’.

1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xvi. 202 PS. Think on your feet, boy!

1960 Analog Sci. Fact & Fiction Oct. 73/2 Your records show that you can think on your feet.

2006 N. Reardon & T. Flynn On Camera 103 Anything that can go wrong probably will one time or another. So you and your crew will have to think on your feet.

d. intransitive. to think ahead: to prepare mentally for a future event.

ΚΠ

1851 Amer. Mag. Dec. 146/1 There was something so romantic in the mere consideration, that we did not ‘think ahead’, as the skipper expressed it.

1879 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 10 32 In reciting you cannot think ahead.

1925 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 19 405 One educator who has thought ahead in this direction suggests that it will require the entire surplus of the social income.

1950 P. Bowles Let. 18 Mar. in In Touch (1994) 214 Today I feel headachy from my sunburn and fever, and it irks me to think ahead more than one minute.

1974 S. Terkel Working ii. 71 Not being a status-quo-type person, I've always thought ahead enough to keep pace with what's new.

2005 Woodworker May 31/3 If your blank is distinctly marked like this one, think ahead as to how you want it to end up.

10. To take into consideration, have regard to.

†a. transitive. With simple object. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > attention > take notice of, heed [verb (transitive)] > take into account, consider

thinka1225

reckona1375

aima1382

allowa1382

considerc1385

accounta1393

regard1512

impute1532

respect1548

to consider of1569

compute1604

to consult with1639

to take into (the) account1660

consult1682

consult for1814

to factor in1964

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 15 (MED) Þet we sculden þenchen nu ȝef we weren iseli.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. iii. 6 In alle thi weies thenc [a1425 L.V. thenke thou on] hym.

a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 32 (MED) Þenke no þinge but þi soule helþe; charge onely þo þinges þat longiþ to þi soule.

b. intransitive. With of, †on (or †upon).

ΚΠ

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 181 To þinke [c1400 Tiber. þengke] on þe comyn profit.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10435 (MED) Qui ne wil þou on þi seluen thinc, þat þou wil noiþer ete ne drinc?

a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 2652 Whyles he lyffes..Thynk he suld ay of his lyfes hende.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 65 Wolde God þat preelatis wolde þenke on þis now.

?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew vii. f. cij^v If thou repent..he promyseth that he will not thynke on thy synnes.

1639 R. Ward Animadversions of Warre ii. xv. ii. 2 The things necessary to be thought upon by a Generall after his Army is leavied, is provision necessary for the same.

a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 206 Did they ever think of that, that make away the Inheritance of God's Holy Tribe in an Out-sale?

1735 S. Johnson tr. J. Lobo Voy. Abyssinia 112 Nothing was thought of, but how to save ourselves, and the little Goods we had.

1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. xi. 261 ‘That is the last matter to be thought on,’ said Hartley.

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 35 If..we begin by thinking of ourselves first, we are easily led on to think of others.

1931 T. F. Powys Unclay (1974) i. 4 He had his own character to think of—his own honour.

1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill xi. 351 ‘Don't bandy words in public, love,’ Adam murmured. ‘Think of the good example your grandfather always sets you.’

1993 H. Liyi & C. A. Chik Mr. China's Son xiii. 178 When something important happens you must consider it from all sides. Think of the children, think of the poor old man, think of me, your husband.

III. With emphasis on an opinion, judgement, or expectation resulting from the action.

11.

a. To hold as an opinion, to believe, judge, consider. Usually: to believe without any great assurance, to regard as likely, to have the idea, to suppose; in reference to a future event: to expect (coinciding partly in meaning with sense 12).

(a) transitive. With object clause (or pronoun substitute). I should think ——: introducing emphatic assent (cf. I should think so at sense 11b(c)).I thought as much: see as adv. and conj. Phrases 4b.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > hold an opinion, opine [verb (intransitive)]

thinkOE

letc1200

understand1297

meana1398

esteem1576

intend?1577

opinionate1653

opine1655

OE Beowulf (2008) 691 Nænig heora þohte, þæt he þanon scolde eft eardlufan æfre gesecean.

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxix. 256 Nu ðencað [lOE Vesp. D.xiv þænceð] sume men þæt ða wif wæron gesælige, þæt hi swilcne cuman underfengon.

a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 67 (MED) Þos ilke bode, wisliche þing, of oðre is ful festning.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 240 (MED) He þoȝte þet hit were grat þing to by monek, and be þo encheysoun he becom monek.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 950 Þou sal thinc þou liues to lang.

c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 322 Thanne thoghten they it was the beste reed To lede hem bothe to the Iuge agayn.

1450 W. Lomnor in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 36 He thowght he was desseyuyd.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clxx Who would haue thought that our Uncle of Englande, would haue made warre on vs?

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 38 Fresh water, some say brought thither by art, I rather think from a naturall fountain.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 40 Canst thou remember..? I doe not thinke thou canst.

1705 N. Tate tr. A. Cowley Of Plants iv, in A. Cowley Wks. (1711) III. 395 The Sun-Flow'r, thinking 'twas for him foul Shame To nap by Day-light, strove t' excuse the Blame.

1798 W. Wordsworth Female Vagrant in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 79 And oft, robb'd of my perfect mind, I thought At last my feet a resting-place had found.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 15 It was thought that the flocks, thus separated from the evil shepherds, would soon return to the true fold.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 94 I think that I understand him.

1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley II. xxxvi. 300 The womenkind always do think that.

1894 A. Jessopp Random Roaming iv. 160 Fish? I should think there was fish! There was fish enough to come to at least £15 of our money.

1944 L. P. Hartley Shrimp & Anemone iv. 41 ‘Do you know..Nancy Steptoe?’ ‘I should think I did.’

1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk iii. 128 I let you continue to think the child was yours.

1975 B. Donoughue Diary 5 Mar. in Downing St. Diary (2005) xi. 323 Interestingly, Janet Hewlett-Davies said that ‘Marcia has shot her bolt.’ I wonder what led her to think that.

2007 D. A. Weintraub Is Pluto a Planet? xiii. 183 Some people see this as a demotion of Pluto from planet-hood. I think that it can reasonably be portrayed as a promotion.

(b) transitive. colloquial. who do you think?, what do you think?: used, esp. parenthetically, to introduce a surprising statement.

ΚΠ

1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes cxxxiii, in Wks. I. 817 But 'mong'st these Tiberts, who do'you thinke there was? Old Bankes the iuggler.

1697 J. Vanbrugh Æsop: 2nd Pt. (ed. 2) 4 I sent him a Challenge; and what do you think his Answer was——he sent me Word I was a Scoundrel Son of a Whore.

1732 T. Sheridan in Wks. Dr. J. Swift (1766) XVII. 45 I am resolved to take some rubrick, although the doctors advise me to drink burgomy. And what do you think? when I went to my cellar for a flask, I found that my servants had imbellished it all.

1790 Tom Tit's Song Bk. There was an old woman, And what do you think, She lived upon nothing, But victuals and drink.

1840 F. M. Trollope Life & Adventures Michael Armstrong xxiv. 274 I saw a flash of light through the narrow slip,..and what do you think it showed me? Crippled as I was, I managed to scramble high enough to peep,..and what do you think I saw?

1869 W. G. Simms Voltmeier in Illuminated Western World 24 July 6/3 I let my ‘shady-glim’ shine for a minute over his face, and what do you think! Why, there was the grand young gentleman, changed all at ons't into the old one.

1933 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Cloud Howe iii. 170 Once the servant went in of a morning and what do you think he saw in the bed? Young Mr Mowat with a quean on each side.

2003 A. Bromfield tr. B. Akunin Winter Queen (2004) v. 63 We threw the dice, and what do you think? My turn again! He had two sixes, and I threw a two, I swear it.

(c) transitive. colloquial. I don't think: used after an ironical statement to indicate that the reverse is intended. that's what you think (with stress on you): a formulaic expression of emphatic, sometimes scornful, disagreement.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > [phrase]

not so fasta1593

I beg your pardon1676

I (should) think not1847

that's what you think1934

1827 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1952) X. 708 A nice woman I don't think.

1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxvii. 412 ‘You're a amiably-disposed young man, Sir, I don't think,’ resumed Mr. Weller, in a tone of moral reproof.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. ii. 258 Hark how he swears, Tom. Nicely brought-up young man, ain't he, I don't think.

1911 ‘K. Howard’ Cheerful Knave xvi Breakfast? Yer a credit to yer calling, I don't think.

1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra ii. 31 ‘I can handle that.’ ‘That's what you think.’

1973 P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog xi. 148 ‘We're going to have the pleasure of your company for several days at least.’ ‘That's what you think.’

2002 R. Gervais & S. Merchant Office: Scripts 1st Ser. Episode 1. 25 Thought I'd go out again tonight with Oggy. That'd be a quiet night in the library—not! I don't think!

b. To hold views of the nature specified or indicated by context.

(a) intransitive. With adverbial. †to think from: to dissent from, to disagree with (obsolete rare). †to think with: to be of the same opinion as (obsolete).to think better of: see better adj., n.¹, and adv. Phrases 10; great minds think alike: see mind n.¹ 21c.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > dissent or disagree [verb (intransitive)]

disagree?1521

misagree1530

differ1563

square1600

to think from1625

dissent1654

non-concur1836

the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > agree with [verb (transitive)]

to go ineOE

cordc1380

consentc1386

covin1393

condescend1477

agree1481

correspond1545

concur1590

to fall in1602

suffrage1614

to hit it1634

colour1639

to take with ——1646

to be with1648

to fall into ——1668

to run in1688

to think with1688

meet1694

coincide1705

to go in1713

to say ditto to1775

to see with ——1802

sympathize1828

a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 149 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 169 (MED) Al he walde and oðerluker don and oðerluker þenchen Wenne he bi-þohte on helle fur.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thyncke contrarye, absentio, is.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxv^v He sayd he spake as he thought.

1625 F. Markham Bk. Honour i. vi. 22 The Holy Ghost (from whose rule we dare not thinke) mentioneth but the two Sonnes.

1688 J. Norris Theory & Regulation Love ii. ii. 76 An old Rule, that we may talk with the Many, but must think with the Few.

c1795 S. Parr Wks. (1828) VII. 415 I think with the lady in Theocritus, that the Dorians have a right to Dorize.

1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) ii. i. 50 I did not Think with him, but would not oppose the thought.

1877 W. Smith & H. Wace Dict. Christian Biogr. I. at Atticus Those who thought with him found in him a warm friend.

1952 C. MacKenzie Rival Monster vi. 73 ‘Oh, well, if we all thought alike it would be a dull world,’ said Mrs Odd.

1997 A. Sivanandan When Memory Dies ii. i. 128 My father must have been thinking on the same lines, because he was now too difficult to persuade.

(b) intransitive. Parenthetic with as, adding a comment to a statement or fact.

ΚΠ

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1076 Rogcer ferde west to his eorldome, & gaderade his folc þan cyngce to unþearfe—he þohte—ac hit wearð heom seolfan to mycclan hearme.]

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 215 (MED) Yit hadde he bot o mannes del Toward himself, so as I thinke, Of clothinge and of mete and drinke.

a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 1959 (MED) Heuy smylle is not, as clerkis thinke, The myddille odour, but only the las stynke.

1592 F. Moryson Let. in Itinerary (1617) i. 25 Each of vs went to our taske, he (as I thought) to goe, I to sleepe.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. vii. lvi. 188 Thrason was the first builder of towne walls: of towers and fortresses, the Cyclopes, as Aristotle thinketh.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. i. vii. 116 A Country, governed, as I thought, by very different Maxims from those in Europe.

1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §266 We had got (as we thought) compleatly moored upon the 13th of May.

1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 657/2 I felt, as I thought, a hand claming softly over the bed-clothes.

1863 A. Gray Let. 27 Jan. in C. Darwin Corr. (1999) XI. 91 It is clear enough that (as I thought at first) Derivation of species is to be the word.

1920 Science 28 May 529/2 The Barosaurus has, as Marsh thought, some resemblance to Diplodocus.

2007 A. Shreve Body Surfing 288 Was it a deliberately boorish gesture, as she once thought, or merely a holdover from exuberant teenage behavior?

(c) intransitive. to think so: to be of the opinion previously stated. I should think so: introducing emphatic assent: certainly, assuredly, indeed. Also with substitute for negative clause, I (should) think not.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > [phrase]

not so fasta1593

I beg your pardon1676

I (should) think not1847

that's what you think1934

1530 J. Rastell New Bk. Purgatory iii. v. sig. f z Gyngemyn. Than thus is not some syn & offence that a man commytteth somtyme more and somtyme lesse. Comyn. I thynke so.

1608 Yorkshire Trag. sig. B3 I should think so mistris.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. vii. 62 I feare me it will make me scandaliz'd. Luc. If you thinke so, then stay at home.

1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Sept. (1965) I. 444 I pray God I may think so for the rest of my Life.

1795 G. Colman New Hay at Old Market i. 11 Daggerwood. This handkerchief, Did an Egyptian to my mother give. Fustian. Faith, I should think so.

1816 Times 7 Sept. 2/3 Should you not think that number of public-houses and dram-shops most intolerably large?—I should think it very prejudicial. And much beyond the necessary call?—I should think so.

1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey x. 152 ‘I mean, I think no worse of him than I did before.’ ‘No worse! I should think not indeed—quite the contrary! Is he not greatly improved?’

1903 G. B. Shaw Man & Superman iv. 167 Promise me that you wont. Violet (very decidedly) I should think not indeed.

1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know iii. 48 Even the birds ought to have a ‘square deal’ in free America: don't you think so?

1995 D. McLean Bunker Man 159 Both..assured me they'd deal with both matters straight away. I should think so too, said Rob.

2000 W. Self How Dead Live (2001) viii. 195 Could I make them better and more considerate lovers, fathers, friends? I think not. My shyster father—my sadistic mother?

12. To believe or consider something to be possible or likely; to suspect; to expect, anticipate.

a. transitive. With infinitive.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)]

weenOE

weenc1000

thinklOE

lookc1225

hopec1330

trusta1387

wait onc1390

supposea1393

to wait after ——1393

to look after ——c1400

thinkc1480

attend1483

suppone1490

expect1535

to expect for1538

aspect1548

respect1549

look1560

ween1589

attend1591

propose1594

await1608

to presume on, upon, or of1608

to look forwards1637

prospect1652

to look for ——a1677

augur1678

anticipate1749

to look to ——1782

spect1839

contemplate1841–8

to look forward1848

eye1979

lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xxiv. 53 Þara [sc. soþena gesælða] wilniað ealle deaðlice men to begitanne, þeah hi ðurh mislice wegas ðencan to cumanne.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 393 If mikel is sorge and more care, Adam and eue it wite ful gare... On sundri ðhenken he to ben And neiðere on oðer sen.

a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 549 He thoght to be wele on hys way, Or it war passed þe thryd day.

?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xxiii. sig. C^v Howe manye haue be deceyued thinkynge to lyue longe & sodenly haue decessed.

1557 Bible (Whittingham) Acts xxiv (contents) Felix gropeth him, thinking to haue a bribe.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 220 I neuer thought to heare you speake againe.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 429 Cromwel, I did not thinke to shed a teare In all my Miseries.

1765 G. Colman tr. Terence Step-mother iv. vi, in tr. Terence Comedies 490 And do you think To find a woman without any fault?

1819 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) III. 392 I thought to have seen you ere this.

1856 G. H. Boker Plays & Poems (1883) II. ii. ii. 29 I thought to hear some folly, but your style Out-fools conceit!

1924 A. D. H. Smith Porto Bello Gold xvi. 220 Gut me if I thought to find such skulkers in my crew!

1961 H. Calisher False Entry i. ii. 15 ‘If there were only a little east in the wind!’ said my mother faintly. ‘Never thought to hear myself say that!’ she added quickly.

2002 S. Waters Fingersmith iii. 83 I am not sure what I thought to find there.

b. transitive. With simple object.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)]

weenOE

weenc1000

thinklOE

lookc1225

hopec1330

trusta1387

wait onc1390

supposea1393

to wait after ——1393

to look after ——c1400

thinkc1480

attend1483

suppone1490

expect1535

to expect for1538

aspect1548

respect1549

look1560

ween1589

attend1591

propose1594

await1608

to presume on, upon, or of1608

to look forwards1637

prospect1652

to look for ——a1677

augur1678

anticipate1749

to look to ——1782

spect1839

contemplate1841–8

to look forward1848

eye1979

the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > hold an opinion [verb (transitive)]

ween971

holda1300

believec1325

judgec1325

feelc1380

supposea1387

conceivea1425

take1429

opinea1475

thinkc1480

supponea1500

esteem1507

opinion1555

intend?1577

meditate1585

opinionate1599

opiniate1624

arbitrate1637

apprehend1639

state1671

calculate1805

consider1830

fink1888

c1480 (a1400) St. James Less l. 339 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 170 The lele men..Thinkand na ewil, vent to the hill.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 11837 Priam..& his prise knightes, Sweryn all swiftly, & no swyke thoghtyn.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 344 I saw't not, thought it not, it harm'd not me.

1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 56 Well-meaners think no Harm.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 24 He thinking no harm agreed.

1859 C. Mackay Coll. Songs 214 Laugh, man! think no evil, Fools alone look always wise.

1886 F. H. Burnett Little Ld. Fauntleroy ix. 178 The frank, true, kindly nature, the affectionate trustfulness which could never think evil.

1953 Amer. Lit. 25 195 The red-haired, ‘beak nosed’ hero, willing to think evil of his ancestress to satisfy his ‘snobbish little soul’.

2007 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 9 June 1 My view's a little slanted, but I think no harm, no foul.

c. intransitive. With of, †on (†upon), †to.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (intransitive)]

hope1303

think1484

expect1779

1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) xl. 63 She..answerd withoute remembryng her ne thynkyng to no harme.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iv. 233 When that our princely father..Blest his three sonnes.., He little thought of this deuided friendship.

1650 R. Gentilis tr. V. Malvezzi Considerations Lives Alcibiades & Corialanus 234 He stumbles at some evill which hee did not think upon.

1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 98 He may meet with both, when he the least thinks on't.

1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise 147 Staring out into the night Where yet the woods thought not of light.

1906 W. Churchill Coniston i. iv. 36 ‘Haven't I seen her in Brampton?’ inquired Mr. Worthington, little thinking of the consequences of the question.

1957 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 20 632 The Emperor,..allowing time to pass without a vendetta, finally, when they were least thinking of it..killed them.

2000 A. Farnsworth-Alvear Dulcinea in Factory vi. 200 You'd be on the night shift, and when you were least thinking of it the priest would be right there.

d. intransitive. With for (†of, †on), in comparisons after as (†so) or than, with the preposition at the end of the clause. Cf. to look for —— at look v. Phrasal verbs 2. Now regional.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > suppose, surmise [verb (intransitive)]

understandc1000

movea1325

thinka1533

imagine1579

wend1581

s'pose1632

surmise1820

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxii. sig. Oi I thinke ye should not reioyse her so easily as ye thynke of.

1566 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce f. 69^v They shall haue of God their iust punishment, and soner than they thinke for.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 159 Oh sir, the conceit is deeper then you think for.

1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 256 A godly servant is a greater blessing then we think on.

1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins I. xiii. 135 I have not made so bad a Hand of my Time as I thought for.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. iii. 58 They hear farther than you think of.

1852 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel IV. xii. xiv. 96 It is of more importance to him than I even thought for.

1894 G. Moore Esther Waters xix. 145 I don't say I'm not often sorry for them poor little dears, but they takes less notice than you'd think for.

a1927 J. Rodker Poems & Adolphe 1920 (1996) 120 She was thinner than he had thought for.

2002 C. C. Davidson Time for Everything xix. 319 She must have dozed longer then she had thought for after studying Marc's booklet.

13. With complement.

(a) transitive. With or without to be: to believe, consider, or suppose (someone or something) to be; to look upon as.†Also (quot. a1616¹) with for (cf. to take for —— at take v. Phrasal verbs 2, and sense 12d).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > accept as true, believe [verb (transitive)]

ylevec888

leve971

ween971

i-weneOE

takec1175

trowc1175

truth?c1250

thinka1275

believec1300

trustc1325

hold1340

trist1340

to give (one's) faith to (also unto)c1405

accept?c1430

admitc1449

credencea1529

to take a person at his (also her) word1535

credit1547

faith1576

to take a person's word1576

receive1581

creed1596

understand1751

Adam and Eve1925

buy1926

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. vi. 95 Þæt hiora gerisna nære þæt hie swa heane hie geþohten þæt hi heora gelican wurden.]

a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 76 (MED) Him sal ben wone no-þing of is wille, wo him her on worolde wrþin þenket [a1300 Jesus Oxf. wrþie þencheþ].

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12071 For he heom þuhte [c1300 Otho wiste] wurðe.

a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 4250 He sal thynk hym loverd of alle.

c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 2 (MED) More he leuys in morgage His hert without disdayne of corage, Not to refuse in thenkyng it bondage.

a1470 in C. Innes & P. Chalmers Liber S. Thome de Aberbrothoc (1856) II. 107 Thynkand it onkyndle tyll thole ane nominatioun of lardschipe of sic ane man.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. vii They were thought to haue been confederates.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II v. ii. 26 Thinking his prattle to be tedious.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. v. 57 If..not yet thou know'st me, and..dost not thinke me for the man I am.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 120 May I be bold To thinke these spirits?

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxv. 135 Some, that have the ambition to be thought eloquent.

1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) vi. 205 Think nought a trifle, tho' it small appear.

1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 202 Striving their ghastly malady to cheer, By thinking it a thing of yes and no, That housewives talk of.

1834 G. P. R. James John Marston Hall vii Lord Masterton thought himself bound to act the part of an elder brother.

1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 190 You think that only a lover's fancy.

1910 A. Bierce Coll. Wks. V. 287 No doubt you think yourself as good As if in mail of black you proudly stood.

1980 Classical Q. New Ser. 30 371 I follow Staveley in thinking it at least more likely that they presented themselves for the censorship as a team.

2005 Metro 14 Feb. (London ed.) 30/4 Thirty years ago, specialists in baroque music were thought to be weirdy-beardy types who wore nettle jumpers and drank real ale.

(b) transitive. With following infinitive other than to be: to suppose (someone or something) to do something. Chiefly, and now only, in passive.

ΚΠ

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection Pref. sig. Aii Ioynynge also therto the gostly exercise and experience of holy fathers, as I thought them to make most for my purpose.

1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus i. f. 14 Which..myght be thought to dannce Anticke verye properlye.

1588 S. Bredwell Rasing Found. Brownisme 34 Here he thinking me to lie wide open, runneth violently vpon me..to dispatch mee at a blowe.

1605 J. Sylvester in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. Index sig. xx7^v/2 Nepenthe, an herbe which being steeped in wine, is thought to expell sadnesse.

1757 E. M. da Costa Nat. Hist. Fossils 6 On account of its appearance and ponderousness Boccone thinks it to contain metalline particles.

1772 B. Franklin Let. 6 Feb. in W. B. Willcox Papers of Benjamin Franklin (1975) XIX 71 The Dry Gripes are thought to proceed always from Lead taken..into the Body.

1853 Life Blessed Paul of Cross (1860) i. xi. 122 The ruins of what is thought to have been the palace of the emperor Sergius Galba.

1929 G. P. Merrill Minerals from Earth & Sky ii. iv. 243 The name garnet, from granatum, a pomegranate, whose seed the crystals are thought to resemble.

2015 J. Warren Nature of Crops v. 91 It [sc. saffron] was thought to cure insomnia, colds and asthma.

†b. intransitive. to think long: to grow weary with waiting; to weary, to be impatient; to long, yearn. Const. for, to (do something); (also) till (something happens). Obsolete (regional in later use).A development of the earlier to think long (think v.¹ 3) ‘to seem or appear long (to)’, by substituting the nominative for the (uninflected) dative. In quot. a1425 to think long by may = to weary of, or ‘þat Crist þouȝte longe’ may be = that to Christ seemed long (cf. ‘that him thoughte long’).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > impatience > be impatient [verb (intransitive)]

to think longc1300

one's fingers are all thumbs1546

bate1599

to sit upon hot cockles1607

to be upon the nettle (also in a nettle)1723

to champ at (also on) the bit1832

to chafe at the bit1873

the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > long or yearn [verb (intransitive)]

thirstc893

forlongc1175

longc1225

alonga1393

greena1400

suspirec1450

earnc1460

to think long?1461

sigh1549

groanc1560

hank1589

twitter1616

linger1630

hanker1642

to hang a nose1655

hangc1672

yammer1705

yen1919

c1300 St. Edward Elder (Laud) l. 50 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 48 (MED) Þis holie man þouȝte longue are he at is broþur were.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 59 Þe Jewis þouȝten þat Crist þouȝte longe bi his liif, and wolde..slee himsilf.

?1461 M. Paston in Paston Lett. (1971) i. 277 I thynk ryth longe tyll I haue some god tydyngys fro yow.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xciii. 303 My wyfe..thynkethe longe for my comynge.

1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. Sonn. xviii These hungry wormes thinke longe for their repast.

1631 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. 75 Behold I come;..think not long. I shall be with you at once.

1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Exod. x. 3) 32 God think's long of the time that men misspend..in wicked courses.

1788 C. Reeve Exiles I. 195 We think long till we see you.

1895 W. C. Fraser Whaups of Durley xi. 152 Ye maunna bide lang away, for I'll be thinkin' lang till I see ye again.

1906 N. Hopper Sel. Poems II. 8 Did you think long as I thought long before our hands might meet.

1922 D. Byrne Wind Bloweth v. vii. 205 Sometimes I think long until I get back to Sweden.

c. intransitive. With complement immediately following (with ellipsis of object it). Also transitive with infinitive or object clause after the complement. Now chiefly in to think fit (see fit adj. 2b), to think proper.

ΚΠ

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 14096 Martha þuȝt il ho [sc. Mary] ne help hir walde.

c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 3426 (MED) Wherfore I rede, if ȝe thenke right, That we sende som messanger To Delos.

a1500 tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy (Cambr.) l. 190 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 87 Whan he þought tyme to daunce with hir.

c1500 Debate Carpenter's Tools in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1987) 38 460 (MED) All þe ȝerne þat I may spyne, To spend at ale he thinkys no syne.

1560 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 51 As the said Edmunde..shall thinke behoofefull & expedient.

1611 Bible (King James) 2 Macc. iv. 19 Which..the bearers therof thought fit not to bestow vpon the sacrifice.

1692 T. P. Blount Ess. 37 I thought good to go to the Philosophers.

1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. III. lxi. 322 Cromwell thought fit to indulge a new fancy.

1831 W. Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. The little narrative which I thought proper to put forth in October, 1827.

1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 477 The Athenians have thought fit to condemn me.

1902 Times 18 Sept. 3/4 The views which M. Pelletan has thought proper to proclaim from the house-tops.

1958 Phylon Q. 19 333 Mrs. Stowe illustrated the behavior Calvinists thought proper to Christians, abased before the throne of God.

1995 M. Coren Conan Doyle (1996) viii. 187 It was cathartic and enjoyable for him to let off steam and pronounce on any subject he thought fit, from horse-racing to photography.

†d. transitive. In passive (usually with non-referential it as subject) with complement: to seem, appear (to a person); = think v.¹; also with ellipsis of the complement: to seem good. Obsolete.Perhaps originally for think v.¹: ‘it thinks (= appears) to X’ being changed to ‘it is thought to X’; hence the retention of to.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > have (specific) appearance [verb (intransitive)] > seem

thinkeOE

beseem?c1225

semblec1325

show1340

supposea1393

appeara1425

resemble?a1425

think1425

seem1570

'pear1851

1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 290/2 Hit is thoght to the Kyng..that there is provision.

1427 Rolls of Parl. 326/2 Alleggyng..such groundes..as it was þought to youre discretion.

c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) 88 To good pepill no laboure scholde be thought to harde.

1558 Queen Mary I in J. M. Stone Life (1901) 512 As to hys godly wysdome shall be thowght mete and convenyent.

1577 J. Knewstub Confut. Heresies (1579) 86 It was thought good vnto almighty God, that the Scriptures shoulde be penned.

1656 J. Fowler Hist. Troubles Suethland & Poland 155 It was thought good that his Lordship with the Electoralls..should repaire by course..to the Parties Commissioners of each side.

†e. transitive. to think (it) much: (a) to be reluctant or shy, hesitate to do something, to have an objection (also with of); (b) to regard it as an important or serious matter to do, if, or that; (c) to be surprised, wonder that. See also much pron. and n. 1c, and cf. sense 14. Obsolete.Perhaps altered from ‘it thinks me much’ (think v.¹).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > attach importance to

reckOE

to make (do, give, take, have, let, kythe, set) force1303

chargea1425

to think (it) much1548

reckon1576

the mind > will > wish or inclination > unwillingness > be unwilling [verb (intransitive)]

nillOE

loathea1200

to make it tough1297

forthinka1300

reckc1300

ruea1400

to make (it) strangec1405

to make strangenessc1407

stick1418

resistc1425

to make (it) strange?1456

steek1478

tarrowc1480

doubt1483

sunyie1488

to make (it) nice1530

stay1533

shentc1540

to make courtesy (at)1542

to make it scrupulous1548

to think (it) much1548

to make dainty of (anything)1555

to lie aback1560

stand1563

steek1573

to hang back1581

erch1584

to make doubt1586

to hang the groin1587

to make scruple (also a, no, etc., scruple)1589

yearn1597

to hang the winga1601

to make squeamish1611

smay1632

bogglea1638

to hang off1641

waver1643

reluct1648

shy1650

reluctate1655

stickle1656

scruple1660

to make boggle1667

revere1689

begrudge1690

to have scruples1719

stopc1738

bitch1777

reprobate1779

crane1823

disincline1885

the mind > language > statement > objection > object [verb (transitive)]

strivea1400

objectc1443

repugna1513

controlc1525

to lay something in a person's light1530

pass1534

take1542

to think (it) much1548

challenge?1577

except1577

except1597

to formalize upon1597

formalize1599

scruple1627

demur1827

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > attach importance to > regard as great or serious

to think (it) much1548

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > wonder, be astonished [phrase]

to think wonder971

I have selcoutha1250

marvela1393

to have wondera1400

to have marvela1500

to give oneself wonderc1500

bewondereda1586

to think it wondera1586

estrange1658

to think (it) much1669

flabberdegasky1822

the mind boggles1899

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > happen or move unexpectedly [verb (intransitive)] > feel surprised

to think wonder (also ferly)lOE

to have wondera1400

admirec1429

startle1562

to think (it) strange of (or concerning)1585

to come short?1611

strange1639

to think (it) much1669

admirize1702

to go (all) hot and cold1845

to take to1862

surprise1943

not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1961

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. xviii. f. lxxv The more vnworthy we be to obteyne pardone eyther of our neyghboure, or of god..yf we thynke it muche to pardon our brother offendyng muche lesse.

1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. B.vii He must..thinke not much his very frende in trifles to offende.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 301 They thought it much if they coulde bring the French King..in safetie to Burdeaux.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 253 Thou..thinkst it much to tread y^e Ooze Of the salt deepe.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 219 He..thought not much to cloath his Enemies.

1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 465 Mr. Grey nor Mr. Treasurer will not think much of my sharing with them.

1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Wife of Bathe's Tale in Fables 482 The Ladies..thought it much a Man should die for Love. And with their Mistress join'd in close Debate.

1712 T. Ellwood Davideis v. ii . 267 He straitway came, Not thinking much to Parley with a Dame.

1793 H. Boyd Poems 570 Well she lov'd the Pastor's hallow'd trade, Nor thought it much, to raise with gentle hand, The lamb, deserted in the thorny glade.

1821 T. G. Wainewright Ess. & Crit. (1880) 194 Our historical wood-cutters have thought it much to follow..those lines ready-pencilled by the inventor on the blocks.

1873 S. Sweetser Ministry we Need xiii. 110 The world may not think it much to bury one's life out of sight.

1881 G. Meredith Tragic Comedians II. viii. 132 Can she think it much to have married that drab-coloured unit?

14. To have a particular (good, bad, or other) opinion of a person or thing; to value or esteem something (highly or otherwise). With of (†by, †at, regional to, on) a person or thing.

a. transitive. With quantifier or equivalent noun phrase as object.to think small beer of: see small beer n. 2c; to think the world of: see world n. Phrases 30.

ΚΠ

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. li. 853 If a man..bereþ þe stone..he may anon tellen what oþer men þinken of him.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xii. 298 ‘What thynke you by hym?’ ‘Certes,’ sayd rowlande, ‘reynawd is a sage knyght.’

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Hag. ii. A But what thinke ye now by it?

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. i. 80 What doth he thinke of vs?

1640 Duke of Newcastle Country Captaine ii. i Betweene, us too, what thinke you of a wench? Court. Nothinge.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 104. ⁋1 To be negligent of what any one thinks of you, does not only shew you arrogant but abandoned.

1813 Sketches of Character (ed. 2) I. 55 I didn't think much of her.

1841 R. W. Hamilton Nugæ Lit. 322 ‘To’ is substituted for of [in the Yorkshire dialect]: ‘What do you think to such a thing, or man?’

1854 C. M. Yonge Cameos xxx, in Monthly Packet Sept. 176 The barons..thought little of the thunders of the Pope.

1896 Bulletin (Sydney) 24 Oct. (Red Page) His father thought a lot of Henry; he used to call him a tiger for work.

1938 A. Christie Appointment with Death v. 37 Her husband thought a lot of her and adopted her judgment on almost every point.

1975 S. Clegg Power, Rule, & Domination vii. 112 If you go back to your University, and they say to you ‘What do you think to that Cashier on site?’, and you say, ‘Oh, he's a bit of a dosser.’

1978 R. Hill Pinch of Snuff ix. 85 I've known Charlie for years. I asked what he thought on it.

2005 Independent 19 Jan. 10/3 I'm not happy with the Government, but I don't think much of this mob either.

b. intransitive. With adverbial, as badly, poorly, highly, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > estimate [verb (intransitive)]

deemc1384

to make much (also little, nothing, too much, etc.) of (or on)c1395

counta1400

thinka1400

reputatec1450

reckon1567

weigh1573

repute1579

esteem1583

censure1592

take stock1736

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 14669 Þai loked on him & loured grim. & heþeli þai þuȝt be him.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) xl. f. 74 She is wel thought on in Rome.

1576 R. Peterson tr. G. della Casa Galateo 22 Eache man desireth to bee well thought of.

1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 111/1 To constraine vs to thinke better on our selues.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iv. ii. 55 I thinke nobly of the soule.

1778 Encycl. Brit. III. 1604/1 The many specimens of profit to be made by the Canadian trade, at last induced the public to think favourably of it.

1850 E. C. Gaskell Lizzie Leigh in Househ. Words 1 34/2 But you mun not think badly of Will.

1909 Musical Times 50 590/2 Brahms evidently thought highly of the native music of his country.

1945 N. Streatfeild Saplings xliv. 215 A family may think poorly of their home, they may admit to each other its discomforts.

1957 J. Braine Room at Top xiii. 129 We'll call it a day... Don't think badly of me.

1976 K. Amis Lett. (2000) 794 P-W R was much tickled..to hear that I thought highly of his playing.

1996 T. Parker Violence of our Lives i. 27 I was always well behaved: good at school, worked hard,..and well thought of by all my teachers too.

c. transitive. to think nothing of: (a) to have a very low opinion of, set no value upon, regard as worthless; (b) to make light of, make no difficulty or scruple about (cf. to make nothing of at make v.¹ 29a); think nothing of it: (imperative) used to deprecate proffered thanks or apology. to think no more of..than: to have the same (usually dismissive) attitude towards..as.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > easiness > find no difficulty in [verb (transitive)]

to make no strength of?c1225

strengthc1225

to make nothing to1675

to make nothing1688

to make much (also little, nothing, too much, etc.) of (or on)1711

to think nothing of1802

the mind > emotion > gratitude > expressions of thanks [phrase] > dismissal of thanks

(it is) my pleasure1950

think nothing of it1950

you are (or you're) welcome1960

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccxcix. f. cclxxx Nor thynke nothynge, of that ye haue lefte behynde you.

1569 W. Samuel Abridgem. Olde Test.: Isa. xliii. sig. S.vi Alone I wil thy foes confound, and eke also remit: Thy sin my self of my good wil, and think no more of it.

1686 J. Gother Papist Mis-represented (new ed.) 3 Whenas I never gave that Character out for a Church of England Character of Popery , thought nothing of her Rule or Judgement nor dreamt of concerning her.

1721 C. Cibber Refusal ii. 24 Think no more of him than he thinks of you, and I'll answer for your Cure.

1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) 222 He was a ree-brained divell, but thought nothing of it, as all the British are so when they come abroad.

1802 T. Beddoes Hygëia II. viii. 76 A pint of wine in two hours is nothing thought of.

1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table v The Lady thanked him..but said she thought nothing of the walk.

1888 Harper's Mag. Mar. 565/2 The Western people..think no more of throwing down a railroad..than a conservative Easterner does of taking an unaccustomed walk across country.

1914 C. H. S. Matthews Bill 132 He was far from being honest, and would think no more of ‘shaking’ a horse, if he happened to want one, than of having his breakfast.

1950 L. Kaufman Jubel's Children xxi. 259 Think nothing of it. My pleasure.

1971 D. Wallis Bad Luck Girl i. 13 Down the Pacific coast they think no more of selling you a fix than pouring you a pisco.

1980 F. Olbrich Desouza in Stardust iv. 41 ‘Thank you for giving up so much of your time, Mr. Chiknis.’ ‘Think nothing of it, Chief Inspector.’

2000 Esquire July 24/1 The patrons here have no doubt seen movie stars and beer-drinking simians power-lunching before, and so think nothing of it.

†15. transitive. To believe in the existence of, to judge or consider to exist. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > accept as true, believe [verb (transitive)] > in existence of

believe?a1425

think1532

1532 T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) I. 351 He..percase might thinke sum unkyndenes and also presumpcyon in yow so to handell hym.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 295 Unless there be who think not God at all.

1872 Contemp. Rev. 20 92 Whatever its limits in a given percept be, there must be thought corresponding limits in its external sphere.

Phrasal verbs

With adverbs in specialized senses. to think away

1. transitive. To remove by exercising the mind; consciously to ignore, imagine the non-existence of.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > ignoring, disregard > ignore, disregard [verb (transitive)] > dismiss from consideration

to put out of ——a1250

to lay awaya1400

to set asidec1407

to lay by1439

to lay asidec1440

to let (something) walkc1450

to set apart?1473

reject1490

seclude?1531

to let go1535

to put offc1540

to set by1592

sepose1593

to think away1620

to look over ——a1640

prescind1650

seposit1657

decognize1659

inconsider1697

to set over1701

shelf1819

sink1820

shelve1847

eliminate1848

to count out1854

discounta1856

defenestrate1917

neg1987

1620 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster ii. 21 If it bee loue to sit crosse armde, and thinke away the day.

a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Beggers Bush v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Mm3 O I am miserably lost; thus fallen Into my Uncles hands, from all my hopes..: Can I not thinke away my selfe and dye?

1849 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 16 376/2 He thinks away every proposition he has been taught to believe.

1880 J. Caird in W. James Varieties Relig. Experience (1902) xviii. 451 But that which I cannot think away is thought or self-consciousness itself.

a1910 W. V. Moody Poems & Plays (1912) 79 I left Raphael Just to come drink these eyes of hers, To think away the stains and blurs And make all new again and well.

1982 R. Kahn Seventh Game i. 4 It was time to think away the pain and play the head game.

2001 Church Times 12 Apr. 32/5 Think away the putti buzzing beside it, and the general furnishing of its aedicule... See the Volto Santo if you dare.

2. transitive. To pass or while away in contemplation; to make (time) pass more quickly by thinking about something. Now rare.

ΚΠ

a1711 J. Norris in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1983) 34 469 Here in this shady lonely grove, I sweetly think my hours away.

1864 F. W. Robinson Mattie III. v. 70 He tried to think the time away by dwelling upon that business in which he intended to embark.

2006 B. L. Worral PodBrandy 20 You remember staring at her..Half-thinking the minutes away With What happened to her?]

† to think down

Obsolete. rare.

transitive. To reduce by exercise of the mind.

ΚΠ

1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 85 Meditation here May think down hours to moments.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 23 ‘A man so afflicted, Sir, must divert distressing thoughts, and not combat with them.’ Boswell. ‘May not he think them down, Sir?’ Johnson. ‘No, Sir. To attempt to think them down is madness.’

to think out

transitive (a) To find out, devise, or elaborate by thinking, to construct intellectually. (b) To complete a train of thought about; to consider to the end, come to an eventual conclusion about. (c) To arrive at a clear understanding of by continued thinking; to solve by a process of thought.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > think or have in mind [verb (transitive)] > think out

out-thinka1382

to think outa1382

musea1400

excogitatec1530

to run over ——1565

to think through1748

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xvii. 31 Or what wers than that flesh thoȝte out and blod? [L. quid nequius quam quod excogitavit caro et sanguis?]

1621 G. Wither Motto (new ed.) sig. A7 I haue not strength another word to write; Or tell you what I purpose to indite: Or thinke out halfe a thought, before my death.

1650 A. Cowley Guardian iv. iv. sig. D4^v/1 If she e'er did but begin a thought Of wronging any man, she would have wept Before she thought it out.

1842 M. F. Tupper Proverb. Philos. 2nd Ser. 210 Who told thee they [sc. beasts] die at dissolution? boldly think it out.

1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. i. iii. 40 Too mean a subject for despair, or, at least, unworthy of having any remedy..thought out for it.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 519 He meditated deeply on the philosophy of trade, and thought out by degrees a complete..theory.

1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus ii. 25 Oh, don't bother me... I don't want to be uncivil, but I've got to think this out.

1925 W. Faulkner Let. 16 Feb. in Thinking of Home (1992) 184 Right now I am ‘thinking out’ a novel. As soon as I get it all straight, I will begin work.

1968 D. Moraes My Son's Father xi. 200 She was sometimes very perceptive, though her ideas were not thought out but felt.

2004 Washington Post 25 Feb. (Home ed.) c10/5 I don't have anything against tattoos, but getting inked is one of those decisions that needs to be extremely well thought out.

to think over

transitive. To give continued thought to; to apply the mind steadily to, with the view of coming to a decision. Cf. overthink v.¹ 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > consider, deliberate [verb (transitive)]

i-thenchec897

showeOE

i-mune971

thinkOE

overthinkOE

takec1175

umbethinkc1175

waltc1200

bethinkc1220

wend?c1225

weighc1380

delivera1382

peisea1382

considerc1385

musec1390

to look over ——a1393

advise?c1400

debatec1400

roll?c1400

revert?a1425

advertc1425

deliberc1425

movec1425

musec1425

revolvec1425

contemplec1429

overseec1440

to think overc1440

perpend1447

roil1447

pondera1450

to eat inc1450

involvec1470

ponderate?a1475

reputec1475

counterpoise1477

poisea1483

traversec1487

umbecast1487

digest1488

undercast1489

overhalec1500

rumble1519

volve?1520

compassa1522

recount1526

trutinate1528

cast1530

expend1531

ruminate1533

concoct1534

contemplate1538

deliberate1540

revolute1553

chawa1558

to turn over1568

cud1569

cogitate1570

huik1570

chew1579

meditatec1580

discourse1581

speculate1599

theorize1599

scance1603

verse1614

pensitate1623

agitate1629

spell1633

study1659

designa1676

introspect1683

troll1685

balance1692

to figure on or upon1837

reflect1862

mull1873

to mull over1874

scour1882

mill1905

c1440 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Thornton) in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 38 Thow may..thynke ouer thi synnes be-fore donne.

1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor ii. iii. sig. H^v I will into my priuat Chamber, locke the dore to me, and thinke ouer all his good parts one after another.

a1647 T. Hooker Applic. of Redempt.: 9th & 10th Bks. (1657) x. 222 Think it over again, cal meditation to counsel, when you have sent your thoughts afar of.

1703 M. Pix Different Widows v. 56 When Merry I'll think over my past Frolicks, and in Sprightly imagination act them over again.

1799 H. Neuman tr. A. von Kotzebue Family Distress ii. v. 27 Think over the matter by yourself.

1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility I. xv. 192 Elinor was then at liberty to think over the representations of her mother.

1847 F. Marryat Children of New Forest I. ix. 150 He wished to think it over.

1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xxii. 368 She had thought it well over beforehand.

1938 D. Baker Young Man with Horn ii. i. 103 There it was, faced this way and faced that way. ‘Oh, I'll think it over,’ Rick said with the air of one who doesn't want to do any more facing.

1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship (1977) xv. 326 From Holman's point of view she was only leaving town to ‘think things over’.

1993 Wall St. Jrnl. 6 Oct. a1/4 A stocky, 100-pound white Akbash guard dog..slips, barking and bristling, through the herd for a close encounter with the bear. The snarling grizzly thinks it over, then grumpily retreats.

to think through

transitive. = to think out (c) at Phrasal verbs, to think out (b) at Phrasal verbs.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > think or have in mind [verb (transitive)] > think out

out-thinka1382

to think outa1382

musea1400

excogitatec1530

to run over ——1565

to think through1748

1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 26 July (1932) (modernized text) III. 1184 They..never consider it in all its different views; and, in short, never think it through.

1856 W. Whitman Leaves of Grass (new ed.) 332 To think of time! to think through the retrospection!

1889 Old Test. Student 8 360 To think through the course of the life from beginning to end.

1922 T. Hardy Late Lyrics & Earlier 150 I've been thinking it through, as I play here to-night.

1961 Observer 8 Oct. 10/3 It is doubtful if Mr. Gaitskell himself had thought through the problem of inner-party democracy.

1979 B. Hebblethwaite in M. Goulder Incarnation & Myth iv. 97 A remarkable attempt to think through what it means for our concept of God to say that Christ's cross is God's cross in our world.

2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 x. 260 I had taken the precaution of thinking through the conversation in advance—like using a pair of psychic stabilisers before gaining your balance on the bike of your mind.

to think up

colloquial (originally U.S.).

transitive. To form an idea of; to use one's ingenuity to devise; to invent, contrive, or produce by thinking.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > contrive, devise, or invent [verb (transitive)]

findeOE

conceive1340

seek1340

brewc1386

divine1393

to find outc1405

to search outc1425

to find up?c1430

forgec1430

upfindc1440

commentc1450

to dream out1533

inventa1538

father1548

spina1575

coin1580

conceit1591

mint1593

spawn1594

cook1599

infantize1619

fabulize1633

notionate1645

to make upc1650

to spin outa1651

to cook up1655

to strike out1735

mother1788

to think up1855

to noodle out1950

gin1980

the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > devise, contrive, or make up, compose, or concoct > by thinking

to think up1885

1855 H. B. Stowe in National Era 26 Dec. 1/1 Christmas is coming in a fortnight and I have got to think up presents for everybody.

1872 S. Hale Lett. (1918) iv. 83 He asked our plans at once, took right hold and thought up what we had better do.

1885 Cent. Mag. 29 350/1 I believe she is thinking up another poem.

1901 S. Merwin & H. K. Webster Calumet ‘K’ vii. 108 I had him pretty busy there for a while thinking up lies.

1956 People 13 May 8/6 In America the magic new process—it was thought up over there—is being developed in all sorts of wonderful ways.

2002 Massage & Bodywork June 4/1 Pet massage sure is one of the silliest things humanoids have thought up.

Compounds

(In some cases the initial element might be the noun think, but this generally refers to a single act of thinking rather than the process.)

† thinkache n. Obsolete a painful thought, an instance of mental suffering.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun]

sorec888

teeneOE

sorrowOE

workOE

wrakeOE

careOE

gramec1000

harmOE

howc1000

trayOE

woweOE

angec1175

derfnessc1175

sytec1175

unwinc1175

wosithc1200

ail?c1225

barrat?c1225

derf?c1225

grief?c1225

misease?c1225

misliking?c1225

ofthinkingc1225

passion?c1225

troublec1230

pinec1275

distress1297

grievancea1300

penancea1300

cumbermentc1300

languorc1300

cumbering1303

were1303

angera1325

strifea1325

sweama1325

woea1325

painc1330

tribulationc1330

illa1340

threst1340

constraintc1374

troublenessc1380

afflictiona1382

bruisinga1382

miseasetya1382

pressurec1384

exercisec1386

miscomfortc1390

mislikea1400

smarta1400

thronga1400

balec1400

painfulnessc1400

troublancec1400

smartness?c1425

painliness1435

perplexity?a1439

penalty?1462

calamity1490

penality1496

cumber?a1513

sussy1513

tribule1513

afflict?1529

vexation of spirit1535

troublesomeness1561

hoe1567

grievedness1571

tribulance1575

languishment1576

thrall1578

tine1590

languorment1593

aggrievedness1594

obturbation1623

afflictedness1646

erumny1657

pathos1684

shock1705

dree1791

vex1815

wrungnessa1875

dukkha1886

thinkache1892

sufferation1976

1892 A. E. Bridger Depression p. v Each separate thinkache enumerated by my depressed patients.

think-aloud adj. Psychology designating or relating to data obtained by requesting a subject to express his or her thoughts by audible speech while performing a specific task (cf. to think aloud at sense 3b).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > information > [adjective] > obtained by monitoring

thinking-aloud1959

think-aloud1972

1972 Managem. Sci. 18 b716 Additional study (for example through ‘think aloud’ methods) could then be aimed at the strategy that the decision maker applies when he actually undertakes his task.

1989 Appl. Linguistics 10 424 A cognitive theory..enables us to better understand the processing of language in lexical search as revealed through concurrent think-aloud data.

2006 Jrnl. of Thought (Nexis) 22 June 81 These..descriptions could serve as ‘think-aloud’ protocols and enable facilitators to ascertain students' intellectual development.

think balloon n. chiefly British = thinks balloon n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble

balloon1843

bubble1915

thinks balloon1959

think bubble1964

thinks bubble1981

think balloon2002

2002 A. McBride Warriors & Warlords 15/2 You can't put in ‘think balloons’, like a cartoon.

2006 Times (Nexis) 17 Mar. t2 7 The sweetheart is sitting in the passenger seat, lips pressed into a thin line so as not to give utterance to the dire sentiments contained in the large think balloon hovering above her head.

think book n. (a) a book containing the writer's thoughts, opinions, or observations (see also quot. 1883); (b) a book that challenges the reader intellectually.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > other non-story prose > [noun] > book of thoughts

think book1883

1883 G. MacDonald Donal Grant I. xiv. 139 It is the book God is always writing at one end, and blotting out at the other. It is made of thoughts, not words. It is the Think-book.

1962 Listener 25 Oct. 694/2 People who want a short, quick holiday from newspapers, problems, and ‘think’ books.

1994 M. Curry & C. Bromfield Personal & Social Educ. for Primary Schools through Circle-Time 23 Making a journal or think book is a helpful option as it provides an alternative means for children to express feelings, thoughts or anxieties.

1995 R. Fisher Teaching Children to Learn (2001) ii. 26 Another way of encouraging a self-questioning approach is to have a Think Book or Learning Log in which children can write about what they feel and think.

1998 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Oct. 56/2 The Lawrence he admired in his early days was the Lawrence of his ‘think’ books, such as the Fantasia of the Unconscious.

think box n. colloquial or humorous the brain as the organ of thought.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > [noun] > as seat of mind

braineOE

pericranium1590

sensorium1613

brainpana1641

pericrane1682

pericrany1699

brain-box1816

memory box1832

think-tank1889

think box1910

thinking box1911

1910 F. H. Evans in Chums 26 Oct. 128/2 Let me put a bit of ice on my think-box, and I'll tell you all about it.

1911 San Antonio (Texas) Express 31 Dec. Government Canyon, ‘that place of all places where a man's thinkbox can develop more think than anywhere else on earth.’

1937 Daily Express 5 Feb. 10/6 I do not believe that their brains, or think-boxes, are of sufficient calibre to understand what they are preaching.

2004 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 6 July b6 Frankly, I think the party should..buy another gent to send to Washington, D.C., who isn't so humorous or light in the think box!

think bubble n. = thinks balloon n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble

balloon1843

bubble1915

thinks balloon1959

think bubble1964

thinks bubble1981

think balloon2002

1964 C. Hodder-Williams Main Experiment i. viii. 95 A drawing of a computer with a think-bubble coming out of it with the caption, ‘Computers’.

1998 N. Whittaker Sweet Talk (1999) 122 Think-bubble over young man's Brylcreem-coated head: ‘The way to a girl's heart is strewn with Nurse Grant's delicious confectionery.’

think factory n. U.S. colloquial a research institution.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > learned person, scholar > [noun] > expert, specialist, authority > group of

brain trust1890

brains trust1933

think factory1958

think-tank1958

1958 W. Beach Conscience on Campus vi. 55 Students are rarely excited about the content of courses. This creates..the need for the artificial incentives of grades to propel students through the think-factory.

1990 M. A. Watson Expanding Vista (1994) viii. 171 ‘The country's universities are think factories,’ the top adman said.

think-fest n. a festival of thinking; an intellectual treat.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > intellectual superiority > [noun] > intellectual matters

intellectuals1654

(the) things of the mind1822

think-fest1947

the mind > emotion > pleasure > quality of being pleasant or pleasurable > [noun] > source of pleasure > a treat > an intellectual treat

think-fest1947

1947 W. H. Auden Age of Anxiety i. 25 Assembled again For a Think-Fest.

1958 Sunday Times 21 Dec. 12/3 The most stimulating think-fest in my week was Sir Kenneth Clark's lucid lecture on the revolting subject, ‘Can Art Be Democratic?’.

2004 Sunday Star-Times (Auckland, N.Z.) (Nexis) 6 June 3 The Hay Festival is on—a huge annual think-fest and international beard magnet..which Bill Clinton, who spoke there last year, called a sort of Woodstock for the Mind.

think group n. a group of people that meets to discuss a subject or solve a problem.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > other types of association, society, or organization

invisible college1647

rota1660

working party1744

free association1761

working committee1821

Ethical Society1822

bar association1824

league1846

congress1870

tiger1874

cult1875

Daughters of the American Revolution1890

community group1892

housing association1898

working party1902

development agency1910

affinity group1915

propaganda machine1916

funding body1922

collective1925

Ku-Klux1930

network1946

NGO1946

production brigade1950

umbrella organization1950

plantation1956

think-tank1958

think group1961

team1990

1961 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 55 60/1 General Electric..has also established a ‘think’ group of its own, as have other corporations.

1967 Guardian 26 Sept. 8/1 Think groups, in which scientists frighten one another with visions of a not too distant future.

1997 Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia) (Nexis) 24 Mar. b7 The ‘think’ group loftily aspires to knowledge, but the ‘fact’ group provides the means to get there, step by step.

think-man n. = ideas man n. at idea n. Compounds 3.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > [noun] > creator or inventor

craftsmana1382

feigner1382

finderc1384

finder-upc1425

engineer?a1513

finder-out1534

inventor1555

conceiver1581

conceiter1603

conceitist1628

commenter1645

ideas man1845

think-man1967

1967 Economist 15 July 187/1 Nor is Mr Brezhnev the think-man who throws up bright new ideas to keep his colleagues on the ball.

1993 L. E. Kay Molecular Vision of Life viii. 243 Delbrück's impact as a man of action..was matched by his reputation as a ‘think-man’, whose theoretical grasp of problems in physics, chemistry, and biology endowed him with an unusual ability to integrate knowledge across scientific boundaries.

think-piece n. chiefly Journalism an article containing discussion, analysis, or opinion, as opposed to fact or news.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > article > other types of article

lost1762

human interest1779

sub-article1815

sub-leader1839

turn-over1842

feuilleton1845

special1861

spesh1887

causerie1903

personality profile1922

think-piece1935

situationer1937

turnover article1952

opinion piece1957

tick-tock1972

listicle2007

society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > thoughtful or reflective > containing opinion rather than fact

think-piece1935

blue sky book1954

1935 Harper's 1 Dec. 701/2 We [sc. reporters] wanted to work,..but there was nothing with which to build. So we faked and wrote ‘think pieces’ and sat about, glass in hand, until something happened to break the monotony.

1941 Q. Reynolds Wounded don't Cry viii. 106 I can't say much about it because I wasn't there and I think a man is a fool to write ‘think’ pieces these days.

1966 E. West Night is Time for Listening iv. 120 I'm not reporting stories... I'm in the think piece business these days.

2000 Times 13 Jan. iii. 42/8 While toiling away on his homebake contest splash, he dreams of writing serious think-pieces about the souring of the American Dream.

2000 Handbk. Lat. Amer. Stud. (Libr. Congress) 57 420/1 Collection of ‘think pieces’ by leading Mexican leftist intellectuals on the future of the political left in that country.

think room n. a room or apartment set aside for meditation or developing ideas.

ΚΠ

1906 Month July 72 Castle, work-room, think-room.

1958 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 27 466/2 ‘Think Room.’ This room is equipped with soft furniture and a selected list of periodicals and books in various fields... Students go there to think.

2005 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 17 Oct. E3 Known as the ‘Think Room’, this 30-by-30-foot box of a space serves as an idea incubator for many of the company's 300 employees.

thinks balloon n. chiefly British (in a comic-strip cartoon or similar illustration) a circle resembling a balloon or bubble floating above a character's head and containing the character's thought in direct speech, originally following the word ‘thinks’; cf. think balloon n., think bubble n., thinks bubble n., thought balloon n., thought bubble n. (b) at thought n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble

balloon1843

bubble1915

thinks balloon1959

think bubble1964

thinks bubble1981

think balloon2002

1959 Spectator 31 July 133/3 In a ‘thinks’ balloon are the words: ‘Rock Hanson..looks an awful wolf.’

1977 Times 31 May 7/6 Roy Lichtenstein's Girl at the Piano has a nice verbal irony in the ‘thinks balloon’ as she muses.

2005 J. Crinson in E. English & J. Williamson Meeting Standards in Primary Eng. ix. 134 The pictures..can be captioned, or have ‘speech bubbles’ or ‘thinks balloons’ added.

thinks bubble n. = thinks balloon n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble

balloon1843

bubble1915

thinks balloon1959

think bubble1964

thinks bubble1981

think balloon2002

1981 N. Tucker Child & Bk. v. 141 The self-proclaiming speech styles of the main characters [in comics], and their periodic ‘thinks’ bubbles.

2003 M. Abbott Family Affairs vi. 154 Their daughter Jessica..wrote ‘boredom’ on a ‘thinks bubble’.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	think
释义	thinkn. Brit. /θɪŋk/, U.S. /θɪŋk/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: think v.² Etymology: < think v.² colloquial. 1. a. An act of (continued or concerted) thinking. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [noun] thoughta1387 consideration1388 contemplationc1390 meditationa1393 musinga1393 speculationa1450 studier1472 musea1500 recollection1576 contemplature1580 rumination1585 contemplating1587 amuse1606 meditating1609 theory1611 meditancea1625 amusement1694 cogitabundation1729 cogibundity1734 cogitabundity1744 think1834 recueillement1845 thunk1922 noodling1942 1834 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 1 426/1 We lie lown yonder..and have time for our ain think. 1870 A. D. T. Whitney We Girls ii. 33 Ruth did talk..when she came out of one of her thinks. 1891 G. M. Fenn Mahme Nousie II. v. 73 Let's have a cigar and a quiet think. 1902 W. Carleton Songs of Two Cent. 88 A walk through the meadows suggested to me An escape from the noise, and a think. 1950 A. A. Milne Table near Band 149 I had a good think about it that night. 2007 J. McCourt Now Voyagers v. 233 I think I shall slip down to third now, for a bit of a think—there's nothing like mixing with the thirds, I find, to stimulate the creative mind. b. An idea, a thought. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > [noun] thoughtOE thingOE conceita1393 imagea1393 concept1479 conception1526 suppositiona1529 idee1542 idea1585 conceivement1599 project1600 representationa1602 notion1607 phantasma1620 conceptus1643 species1644 notice1654 revolution1675 representamen1677 vorstellung1807 brain-stuff1855 ideation1876 think1886 artefact1923 construct1933 mind1966 1886 H. Maudsley Nat. Causes & Supernat. Seemings 33 To every one a thing is..what he thinks it—in effect, a think. 1887 G. MacDonald Home Again iv A thing must be a think before it be a thing. 1910 Burlington Mag. Mar. 337/2 An actual definition of drawing given by a child may be quoted..‘First I think and then I draw a line round my think.’ 1959 J. Berryman 77 Dream Songs i. 20 Without a think in his head. 2007 Weekly Standard (Nexis) 29 Jan. My thinks really are chiefly thanks. c. to have another think coming: to be greatly mistaken. Cf. to have another thing coming at thing n.¹ Phrases 16. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > mistake [phrase] to miss the cushiona1529 to get, have, or take the (or a) wrong (or right) sow by the ear1546 to pray without one's beads1641 to have the wrong end of the stick?1793 to bark up the wrong tree1832 the boot (is) on the wrong leg or foot1834 to have another think coming1896 you have another guess coming1935 to be off the beam1941 blow1943 1896 Sunday Jrnl. (Indianapolis) 23 Feb. 10/1 ‘Oh, you think you've seen me, do you?’ and once more that voice gurgled in his ear. ‘Well, you've got another think coming.’ 1897 Buffalo (N.Y.) Enquirer 12 June (Evening ed.) 6/4 People who witness the [cycle] races..often see men protest one another..and..imagine that these battles and quarrels of the track are carried on after the races are over. The people who think this ‘have another think coming’, for the men travel in one of the most peaceful parties that follows any line of sport. 1898 Syracuse (N.Y.) Standard 21 May 8/1 Conroy lives in Troy and thinks he is a corning fighter. This gentleman has another think coming. 1942 T. Bailey Pink Camellia xxvii. 199 If you think you can get me out of Gaywood, you have another think coming. 2002 Independent 29 Aug. 17/7 If he thinks he will be blissfully free of directives and paperwork, he has another think coming. 2. What someone thinks about a matter; a personal opinion. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > [noun] weenc888 doomc900 advicec1300 wonec1300 opiniona1325 sentence1340 sight1362 estimationc1374 witc1374 assent1377 judgementa1393 supposinga1393 mindc1400 reputationc1400 feelingc1425 suffrage1531 counta1535 existimation1535 consent1599 vote1606 deem1609 repute1610 judicaturea1631 estimate1637 measure1650 sentiment1675 account1703 sensation1795 think1835 1835 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) II. 187 My own private think is that he will execute another voluntary. 1851 D. P. Thompson Rangers I. ix. 110 There is a differ between your think and mine, I see, mistress. 1861 J. Brown Horæ Subs. 2nd Ser. 355 The cobbler..dispenses his ‘think’..to all comers on all subjects. 1925 V. Lindsay Coll. Poems (rev. ed.) iv. 202 The bottle held but ink, And, if you thought it otherwise, the worser for your think. 1993 Jrnl. Beckett Stud. 2 129 His ‘think’ is punctuated so that it makes sense; his manner of delivery is that of a lecturer. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † thinkv.¹ Forms: 1. Present stem. α. Old English þyncan, Old English ðyncan, Old English ðyncean, late Old English þynccan, early Middle English þynce (subjunctive singular); 3rd singular indicative early Old English ðync (probably transmission error), Old English ðynces (Northumbrian), Old English þynceþ, Old English þynceð, Old English ðynceþ, Old English ðynceð, Old English þyncð, Old English ðyncð, early Middle English þuncæð, early Middle English þunckeð, early Middle English þuncþ, early Middle English þuncð, early Middle English þunket (south-west midlands), early Middle English þunkeþ, early Middle English þunþ. eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxvi. 255 Hwelc wite sceal us ðonne to hefig ðyncan [eOE Junius ðyncean]?OE Cynewulf Elene 541 Do swa þe þynce, fyrngidda frod, gif ðu frugnen sie on wera corðre.c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 139 Hit þuncþ moniȝe monnum wunderlice to herenne..hu deofel æfre þa durstinesse hæfde þæt he Cristes lichame ætrinæn durste.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 1672 Me þuncþ [a1300 Jesus Oxf. þinkþ] þu ledest ferde.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 1649 Me þunch þat þir forleost þat game.c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 1592 Swuþe longe hire is þe hwile An ek steape hire þunþ [a1300 Jesus Oxf. þinkþ] amile.a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 47 Me þunkeþ myn herte brekeþ atuo. β. Old English þincan, Old English ðincan, Old English þincean, early Middle English þince (subjunctive singular), early Middle English ðince (subjunctive singular), early Middle English ðinke, early Middle English þinnke ( Ormulum, subjunctive singular), Middle English thinc, Middle English think, Middle English thynke, Middle English þink, Middle English þinke, Middle English þynk, Middle English þynke, Middle English–1500s thinke, Middle English–1500s thynk, 1500s thincke, 1500s thynck; also Scottish pre-1700 thynk; N.E.D. (1912) also records a form late Middle English thynck; 3rd singular indicative Old English þincað (rare), Old English ðincaþ (Mercian), Old English þinceþ, Old English þinceð, Old English ðincþ, Old English (transmission error) Middle English þinc, Old English–early Middle English þincð, Old English–early Middle English ðincð, Old English–Middle English þincþ, late Old English–early Middle English þinð, early Middle English dincð, early Middle English þinkeð, early Middle English ðinkeð, early Middle English þinnkeþþ ( Ormulum), Middle English thinc, Middle English thinces, Middle English think, Middle English thinkethe, Middle English thinkis, Middle English thinkt (northern), Middle English thinkytȝ, Middle English thynketh, Middle English thynkis, Middle English thynkith, Middle English thynkyȝt, Middle English thynkys, Middle English thynkyth, Middle English þinh, Middle English þink, Middle English þinkes, Middle English þinket, Middle English þinkeþ, Middle English þinkiþ, Middle English þinkith, Middle English þinkkeȝ, Middle English þinkþ, Middle English þinkyþ, Middle English þynk, Middle English þynke, Middle English þynkes, Middle English þynkeþ, Middle English þynketh, Middle English–1500s thinketh, 1500s thynkes; also Scottish pre-1700 thinkis. eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxiii. 76 Gif he hine [sc. þone welan] þonne beget, þonne þincð him þæt he næbbe genog.eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xxxi. 74 Do þonne rysle to..& ealdes wines swa micel swa þe þince.lOE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Vesp. D.xiv) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 39 Hwu þincð [OE Corpus Cambr. 178 þinc] þe, la, Daniel, þæt þes derewurðe Bel ne sy leofigende god?c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11807 Ne þinnke ȝuw nan wunnderr.c1330 (?c1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) (1898) l. 588 Þouh þe þinke, hit greue þe.a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 384 Lordes, lusteneþ her-to, ȝif ȝou lef þinkes!a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 225 Notful me thinc it ware to man.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 2602 Me walde þink þat hit ware myne.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16389 Selcuth vs thinc o þe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 18966 Gret selcuth here-of thinces vus.?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 186 Þanne wolde hem thinken gretter delyt.?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 96 Þis think me ane of þe grettest meruailes þat I hafe sene in any land.1494 W. Hilton Scala Perfeccionis (de Worde) i. xxxiv. sig. dii Hym shall thynke that his synnes are..so fowle.1530 E. Crome in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. x. 20 But my thynk theye hurt purgatorye sore.?1530 St. German's Dyaloge Doctoure & Student sig. ri It thynkyth more resonable.1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre lxxxii, in Posies sig. Iii Me thinke if then their cause be rightly scande.1577 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. i. i. 18 Adding what him thinketh good of his owne knowledge. γ. Old English ðyncga (Northumbrian), Middle English thing, Middle English thinge, Middle English þing, Middle English þinge; 3rd singular indicative Old English þincgþ (rare), Old English–early Middle English þing (perhaps transmission error), Old English–early Middle English þingð, Old English–early Middle English ðingþ, Old English–Middle English þingþ, late Old English ðing (perhaps transmission error), late Old English–early Middle English ðingð, early Middle English þungþ (south-west midlands), early Middle English þurȝeð (transmission error), Middle English thing, Middle English thingeȝ, Middle English thinȝth, Middle English thyngyþ, Middle English þingeþ, Middle English þingh, Middle English þinȝh, Middle English þingþe, Middle English þinngþ. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark xiv. 64 Audistis blasphemiam quid uobis uidetur : geherdon gee ðæt ebolsung huæd iuh ðyncge uel is gesene [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. hwæt þincð eow].OE Ælfric 1st Let. to Wulfstan (Corpus Cambr. 190) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 102 Þis eow þingð hefelyc, forþanþe ge habbað on gewunan eowre yrmþe, swa þæt eow sylfum þingð, þæt eow nan syn ne sy.lOE King Ælfred tr. St. Augustine Soliloquies (Vitell.) (1922) i. 48 Ne ðing [perh. read ðingð] me nu þæt þu me awiht gesceadlice andwyrde; me ðing [perh. read ðingð] þæt þu sprece þam gelicost swilce þine æagan cwæðen to þinum mode [etc.].?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 9 Be þan manne, þat hym þing [perh. read þingþ], þæt hyt turnȝe abotan hys heafod.a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 5 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 161 Vnnet lif ich habbe iled and ȝet me þingþ [a1225 Digby þinȝh, ?c1250 Egerton þinh] ilede.c1300 St. Michael (Harl.) in T. Wright Pop. Treat. Sci. (1841) 134 The sonne is more than the mone,..The mone thinȝth the more, for heo so neȝ ous is.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 166 Suo dede þe martires ase hit þingþ ine hare liue.c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 12 Vs thing [c1440 Thornton thynke] a masse als squete As any spyce that euyr thou ete. δ. early Middle English ðinche, Middle English þenche, Middle English thenche, Middle English þinche, Middle English þunche (chiefly south-west midlands); 3rd singular indicative early Middle English þencheð, early Middle English þincher (transmission error), early Middle English þincheð, early Middle English ðinchet (south-west midlands), early Middle English þuchet (transmission error), early Middle English ðunccheð, Middle English þenchet, Middle English þencheþ, Middle English thuncheth, Middle English thynthith (transmission error), Middle English þinche, Middle English þinchet, Middle English þincheþ, Middle English þinchethþ, Middle English þinchez, Middle English þinchþ, Middle English þunch (probably transmission error), Middle English þunched, Middle English þunches, Middle English þunchet (south-west midlands), Middle English þuncheþ, Middle English þuncheð, Middle English þunchez, Middle English þynchez. a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 62 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 163 Eiðer to lutel and to muchel scal þunchen [a1225 Digby þenchen, a1225 Egerton ðinche] eft hom baþe.a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 69 Þet þuncheð gode swiðe god.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 35 Ȝet hit walð [read walde] me þunchen þet softeste beð..þet ic efre ibad.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 33 Nalde hit þe þinchen na mare bute al swa þu ene unpriȝedest [read unwriȝedest] mid þine eȝen.c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 73 Tah hit þunche oþre men þet ha drehen hearde.c1275 Lutel Soth Serm. (Calig.) l. 80 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 190 An eue to go mid him, Ne þuchet [v.r. þincheþ] hire no schome.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 161 Noþer gyn ne mannes strengþe, it þencheþ, ne may it do.a1350 (a1250) Harrowing of Hell (Harl.) (1907) l. 140 Me þuncheþ he is a coward.c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 122 I say for my-self and schewe, as me thynthith [read thynchith]. ε. Middle English þenk, Middle English þenke, Middle English thenck, Middle English thenk, Middle English thenke; 3rd singular indicative Middle English þenkeþ, Middle English þenkeþe, Middle English þenketh, Middle English þenkiþ, Middle English thenckyth, Middle English thenketh, Middle English thenkiþ, Middle English thenkith, Middle English thenkth. c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 4974 Me þenkeþ he makeþ long duelling. ▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 220 So that him thenketh of a day A thousand yer, til he mai se The visage of Penolope.1419 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1834) II. 247 Þus us thenkiþ þer was grete negligence in sum persone.1426 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Feb. 1426 §12. m. 3 Þe kyng to demene hit..as hym þenketh to be doon. ▸ c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 102 Þis vndirnymyng he dooþ so scharpli as him þenkiþ þat neede..askiþ.a1500 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite (Harl. 7333) (1878) l. 105 But no thing thenkith þe fals as doth the trewe.a1500 (?a1400) Firumbras (1935) l. 717 Me thenk that thou canst wel To schastise the sarsins with thy swerd of stel. 2. Past tense. α. Old English–early Middle English þuhte, Old English–early Middle English ðuhte, early Middle English ðhugte, early Middle English ðhute, early Middle English ðufte, early Middle English ðugte, early Middle English þuhhte ( Ormulum), early Middle English þuht (before a vowel), early Middle English þuðte, Middle English thught, Middle English þuchte, Middle English þucte, Middle English þuȝt, Middle English þuȝte, Middle English þuste, Middle English þutte (south-west midlands), Middle English þuþte. OE Crist III 1424 Lytel þuhte ic leoda bearnum.., cildgeong on crybbe.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1124 Of þa oðre swa fela swa him þuhte he sende..to hise casteles on heftnunge.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15324 Itt himm þuhhte swiþe god.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 119 Hit þuhte here ech sunderlepes þat it was his londes speche.c1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 53 Hit þuȝte þe ful god.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1849 To sen de werld ðhugte hire god.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 750 If ham gode þuȝt [Vesp., Gött. thoght, Trin. Cambr. þouȝt].c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 157 Þai foundyt to flight for ferd of hym one And lefton the lond þof hom lothe thught. β. early Middle English ðhogt, early Middle English ðhogte, early Middle English ðogt, early Middle English ðogte, Middle English south (probably transmission error), Middle English thoght, Middle English thoghte, Middle English thoȝt, Middle English thoȝte, Middle English thoht, Middle English thoughte, Middle English thoughtte, Middle English thouȝt, Middle English thougte, Middle English thouȝte, Middle English þhouȝte, Middle English thouȝthe, Middle English thouht, Middle English thouhte, Middle English þhouhte, Middle English thout, Middle English thouth, Middle English thowhte, Middle English thowith, Middle English thowt, Middle English thowut, Middle English thowyth, Middle English toght (northern), Middle English þoghte, Middle English þoȝt, Middle English þoȝte, Middle English þoht, Middle English þohte, Middle English þoucte, Middle English þouȝ, Middle English þough, Middle English þouȝhte, Middle English þouȝt, Middle English þouȝte, Middle English þouȝth, Middle English þougthe, Middle English þouht, Middle English þouhte, Middle English þoute, Middle English þouth, Middle English þouthe, Middle English þowht, Middle English toyȝt (northern), Middle English youhte, Middle English youte, Middle English youth, Middle English–1600s thought; also Scottish pre-1700 thocht, pre-1700 thoght, pre-1700 thoucht, pre-1700 tocht. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 147 Mine teares..me waren bred daiȝ and niht, swa gode hie þouhten.c1300 St. Kenelm (Laud) 123 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 348 Him þouȝte [a1325 Corpus Cambr. He þoȝte] he c[l]am op-on þat treo.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19040 Þar-of to do quat þaim god thoght [Fairf. thoȝt, Trin. Cambr. þouȝt, Coll. Phys. þoȝte].a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1340 Him thoght [Gött. thout, Fairf. þoȝt, Trin. Cambr. þouȝte]..þat to þe sky it raght þe toppe.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 562 Hard hit hym þoȝt.c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Hymns to Virgin & Christ (1867) 83 Al þat y dide, it þouȝte me swete.1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 79 Þis ordynance þaim thocht þe best.a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xi. vi. 15 The goddis wraik, hym thocht, Schew that by fait Ene was thyddir brocht.1632 P. Holland tr. Xenophon Cyrupædia 205 Him thought that one came unto him. 3. Past participle. Old English geþuht, early Middle English iþucht, early Middle English iþuht, early Middle English iðuht, early Middle English ðogt. OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) ii. 194 Færlice wurdon æteowede fela þusend engla ði læs þe wære geþuht anes engles ealdordom to hwonlic to swa micelre bodunge.c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 32 Þa heo on hire reste wæs þa com hire an stæfne to ðæs ðe hire iðuht wæs þæt hit godes engel wære.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 211 Ower mete ant ower drunch haueð iþuht [?c1225 Cleo. iþucht] me ofte leasse þen ich walde. For forms specific to methinks v. (including all forms later than 1700) see that entry. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch dunken , past tense docht (in Old Dutch only as (3rd singular) thunket , thinket ; Dutch dunken ), Old Saxon thunkian , past tense thūhta (Middle Low German dünken ), Old High German thunken , dunchen , dunken , past tense dūhta (Middle High German dunken , German dünken ), Old Icelandic þykkja , past tense þótti , Old Swedish þykkia (Swedish tycka ), Old Danish thykkæ , thykkiæ (Danish tykkes ), Gothic þugkjan , past tense þūhta < a different ablaut grade (zero-grade) of the same Indo-European base as (o -grade) think v.²Old English þyncan belongs (like þencan think v.²) to the subclass of weak Class I verbs in which the formative -i- of the present stem is absent in the past, hence the absence of i-mutation in the past tense and past participle. The Old English past tense þūhte shows loss of the postvocalic nasal and compensatory lengthening. Old English spellings such as ðyncean (see Forms 1α) point to assibilation and affrication of the stem-final plosive in the present stem; Middle English and later forms with medial -ch- (see Forms 1δ) clearly show the reflexes of Old English assibilated forms. By contrast, the Middle English and later forms with medial -k- (see Forms 1α, 1β, 1ε) lack assibilation; they probably derive < Old English forms of the 2nd and 3rd singular present indicative such as þyncst , þyncþ , where, as a result of syncopation, the consonant of the ending immediately followed the stem and prevented the assibilation of c (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §438). For the early Middle English 3rd singular present indicative forms þunch (probably transmission error), þinchez , þinkez see discussion at methinks v. In Old English the present stem þync- was distinct from that of þencan think v.², as were the past tense þūhte and past participle geþūht from those of think v.², þōhte and geþōht . In Middle English the two verbs showed formal merger in most dialects in the present stem. Old English þyncan regularly gave Middle English thinken or thinchen except in the south-east (thenken or thenchen , although sometimes thinken or thinchen with raising of e before n plus consonant) and south-west (thunken or thunchen , although sometimes thinchen owing to the influence of following /tʃ/). Old English þencan regularly gave Middle English thenken or thenchen , thence (with raising of e before n plus consonant) thinken or thinchen . The past tense and past participle forms of both verbs would have shown shortening of a long vowel before ht in late Old English or early Middle English. The subsequent history is complex, but in many varieties (as in modern standard English) the two sets of forms (and also thought n.) became homophonous. In Old English the prefixed form geþyncan (compare y- prefix) is also attested in the same sense as þyncan ; compare also misþyncan misthink v.¹, ofþyncan ofthink v. Confusion of Old English geþyncan with geþencan i-thenche v. is evidenced early in the following isolated examples:OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xvii. 25 Quid tibi uidetur, Simon: reges terrae a quibus accipiunt tributum uel censum a filiis suis an ab alienis?: huæt ðe gesegen is uel ðe geðence [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. hwæt þincð þe]: cyninges eorðo from ðæm onfoas gæfil uel penningslæht from sunum hiora oððe from utacundum?OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) xvi. 154 Qui adtonitis id est arrectis oculis cogitat praua mordens labia sua perficit malum : se þe atihtum eagum geþincð þwyre terende weleras his he gefremð yfel. Obsolete. To seem, to appear. 1. intransitive. With expressed subject (sometimes anticipatory it and following clause) and complement. Also with personal pronoun (me, him, her, etc.), as indirect object and parenthetic with as (or so), adding a comment to a statement.In quot. c1230 with notional subject pronoun in oblique case. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > have (specific) appearance [verb (intransitive)] > seem thinkeOE beseem?c1225 semblec1325 show1340 supposea1393 appeara1425 resemble?a1425 think1425 seem1570 'pear1851 eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxvi. 255 Hwelc wite sceal us ðonne to hefig ðyncan? eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxii. 73 Gif þon[ne] hwa wære swa scearpsiene þæt he m[ihte þone cnih]t þurhsion.., þonne ne ðuhte he him [no innon swa fæger swa he utan þuhte]. eOE Metres of Boethius xxviii. 63 Ne þincð þæt wundor micel monna ænegum þæt he mægge gesion dogora gehwilce. OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xvii. 25 Quid tibi uidetur, simon: hwæt ðynceþ þe simon petre? OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Nero) (1957) 269 On þysan earde wæs, swa hit þincan mæg, nu fela geara unriht fela & tealte getry[w]ða. lOE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Vesp. D.xiv) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 16 Manege weges synd..þe mannen þynceð [OE Corpus Cambr. 178 þingað, a1225 Lamb. þuncheð] rihte, ac heo swa þeh gelædeð to deaðe on ænde. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 109 Þat he [sc. the sunne] þinkeð ful of liht,..þat heo þincheð ful of hete. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 101 & swetest him þuncheð ham. a1300 Woman of Samaria l. 19 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 84 (MED) Hwat ar-tu þat drynke me byst? þu þinchest of iude-londe. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 2177 Thanne is it wisdom, as it thynketh me To maken vertu of necessitee. 1437 in J. Stevenson Lett. & Papers Illustr. Wars Eng. in France (1864) II. Pref. p. lxvii Such as shall think unto youre lordship necessarie and sufficient. 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. l. 79 This ordynance thaim thocht the best. 1550 N. Lesse tr. St. Augustine Of Vertue of Perseueraunce xix, in tr. St. Augustine Predestination of Saints sig. Yii That man, which doth folow Christ (beyng demanded ye question, For what cause he wolde be a christian man) may well make aunswer, and say, it lyked me well, and it thought me good so to do. 1658 W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Life King Charles 1044 Now was the strict custody of the King referred to the care and Command of the General, to place and displace servants, such as to him thought meet. 2. intransitive. Without expressed subject or with following clause as implicit subject. Always with personal pronoun (me, him, her, etc.) as indirect object, or, later, with to and pronoun. From the 14th cent. onwards sometimes irregularly put into the person or number of the dative pronoun, by association with think v.²: thus methink, for methinks, after I think (compare quots. a1400¹, a1400³, ?a1425², 1530, 1575 at Forms 1β). a. With complement, as in sense 1. to think shame: see shame n. Phrases 2. ΚΠ OE Beowulf (2008) 1748 Þinceð him to lytel, þæt he lange heold. lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xiv. 31 Ac þincð him [sc. to the animals] genog on þam þe hi binnan heora ægenre hyde habbað. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5030 Ȝiff himm þinnkeþþ god. he maȝȝ Þe ȝifenn heffness blisse. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 384 (MED) Lordes, lusteneþ herto, ȝif ȝou lef þinkes. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 868 Vs thoght scam þe to bide. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 16827 (MED) Dothe hym doune as you thenckyth best. a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 16 Cry on, cry, whyls the thynk good! ?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xvii. f. 25 Whan he had..suche company as hym thought competent for an army. 1556 tr. J. de Flores Histoire de Aurelio & Isabelle sig. E Take..that nombre of men and women as shall thincke you goode. b. With a noun clause, often following the verb but constituting the logical subject, or parenthetic, adding a comment to a statement. See also methinks v. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > have specific appearance [verb (impersonal)] > seem thinkeOE it seemsa1225 meseems?a1425 it seems1442 beseem1470 it should seem1525 it would seem1826 seems to me1888 eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxix. 66 Se mon..þe him selfum ðincð þæt he nænne [anwald] næbbe. OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 697 Ða andwyrde se cyning eft þam witegan, ne þinc [lOE Vesp. D.xiv þincð] þe, la, Danihel, þæt þes deorwyrða Bel sy lifiende god? c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10299 Hemm þuhhte þatt he mihhte ben Helysew þe profete. a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 36 (MED) Hire þucte a miste aweden; Hire herte bi-gon to bleden. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 7597 (MED) To bete þulke robberie þat him þoȝte he adde ydo. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 96 Hym thoughte þ^t his herte wolde breke. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 998 Say quhat ȝe will, this is the best think me. 1530 W. Tyndale Pract. Prelates sig. Ivij The maryage of the brother with the sister is not so greuouse agenst the lawe of nature (thinketh me) as the degrees aboue rehersed. 1635 T. Heywood Hierarchie Blessed Angells iv. 198 Him thought that in his depth of sleepe he saw A Souldier arm'd. 1672 Chaucer's Ghoast 51 Him thought that there was coming in his Lond many Gryffons and Serpents. c. With adverb (how, so, †thes the, thus); also parenthetic with as (or so), adding a comment to a statement. ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxviii. 122 He..wenð þæt ælcum men [sie swa swa him si, & ælcum men] ðince swa swa him þincð. OE Beowulf (2008) 1341 Mihtig manscaða..feor hafað fæhðe gestæled, þæs þe þincean mæg þegne monegum. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 28 Hu þincð eow? c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16866 Farisew bi-tacneþþ uss Shædinng..& forr-þi wass þatt name hemm sett Forr þ teȝȝ wærenn shadde. Swa summ hemm þuhhte. fra þe follc Þurrh. haliȝ lif. & lare. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 639 ‘Adam’, he said, ‘how thinkt [Gött. thinkes, Trin. Cambr. þinkeþ] þe In þis stede es fair to be?’ c1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Fairf. 16) (1879) Prol. l. 248 Therfore may I seyn as thynketh me This songe in preysyng of this lady fre. c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 175 We hard a grete noyse of armyd men, & as vs thoght, of harnessid hors. ?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 372 For þat mony wyll amend my fare, As thynkyth me. 1577 J. Grange Garden in Golden Aphroditis sig. Piij^v The Primerose as him thought, and Uiolet did fight. Wherewith as one amazde, at large he them behelde, Hoping at length to see, the one or other yelde. 1607 E. Grimeston tr. S. Goulart Admirable & Memorable Hist. 197 One night in the Sommer-time he arose in his shirt, put a cloake about him, got him forth a dores, beeing all this while fast asleepe, and met (as him thought) with another man who demanded of him whither hee went so late. 3. intransitive. to think long: to seem or appear long, to be wearisome (to a person): cf. think v.² 13b. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > be or become wearied or bored [verb (intransitive)] > be or become wearisome or tedious to think longeOE it irks (me)1483 dull?1529 flag1678 weary1815 stale1893 feed1933 eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) x. 66 Forðæm þe nane forlet, þeah hit lang ðince, deað æfter dogorrime. lOE King Ælfred tr. St. Augustine Soliloquies (Vitell.) (1922) i. 53 Sumne dæl ecra gyfa swilcra swilce nu wisdom is, and rihtwisnes, and oðne [read oðre] manega þe us lang ðincð to rimanne. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 183 (MED) Gief þe licame bed [read beð] euel, loð is heo þe sowle, and hire þuncheð lang þat hie om [read on] him bileueð. a1350 ( in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 20 Þo he com to galewes, furst he wes an-honge Al quic byheueded, þah him þohte longe. a1425 (c1300) Assumption of Virgin (BL Add.) (1901) l. 121 Alle him þenkeþ swiþe longe Til þou comest hem amonge. c1450 Ihesu þi Swetnes (Lamb. 853) in F. J. Furnivall Hymns to Virgin & Christ (1867) 9 (MED) After his loue me þenkiþ long, For he haþ myne ful dere y-bouȝte. a1500 (?a1400) Tale King Edward & Shepherd l. 716 Long hym thouȝt, til mydday Þat he ne were seruyd of his pay. 1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau iv vi. sig. C.iij^v O Lord, me thinketh long sonne Iacob since thou went. 4. intransitive. To seem fitting or proper. ΚΠ OE Cynewulf Elene 541 Do swa þe þynce, fyrngidda frod, gif ðu frugnen sie on wera corðre. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1124 Of þa oðre swa fela swa him þuhte he sende norð & suð. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 12439 Godd..doþ all þatt himm þinnkeþþ. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 435 Suggeð me to runun ræd þat eou þunche. 1429 Will in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1895) 5 298 (MED) I..bequethe my body to be buryed..under a flat stoon of Marbre with such deuys as thenketh to myn executors. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022). thinkv.² Brit. /θɪŋk/, U.S. /θɪŋk/ Inflections: Past tense and past participle thought Brit. /θɔːt/, U.S. /θɔt/, /θɑt/; Forms: 1. Present stem. α. Old English þæncan, Old English ðæncan, Old English þæncean (rare), Old English þencan, Old English ðencan, Old English þencean, Old English ðencean, Old English ðenð (3rd singular indicative), Old English (before ðu)–Middle English þen (imperative), early Middle English þænce, early Middle English þence, early Middle English ðence, early Middle English þenh (imperative singular, transmission error), early Middle English ðenke, early Middle English þennke, early Middle English þennkenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English ðenþ (3rd singular indicative), early Middle English þeynke, early Middle English ðhenke, early Middle English thonketh (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), early Middle English yinge, early Middle English zenke, Middle English denke, Middle English ȝenk, Middle English ȝenke, Middle English þeinke, Middle English þenc, Middle English þenchke, Middle English þencke, Middle English þeneke, Middle English þenghke, Middle English þengke, Middle English þenk, Middle English tenke, Middle English þenke, Middle English þenkkez (3rd singular indicative), Middle English þenst (2nd singular indicative), Middle English þenxt (2nd singular indicative), Middle English þeynt (2nd singular indicative, perhaps transmission error), Middle English then, Middle English thence, Middle English thenck, Middle English thencke, Middle English thengke, Middle English thenk, Middle English thenke, Middle English þnecke (transmission error), Middle English yenk, Middle English yenke; Scottish pre-1700 theink, pre-1700 thenk. eOE (Kentish) Glosses to Proverbs of Solomon (Vesp. D.vi) in U. Kalbhen Kentische Glossen (2003) 145 Excogitat : ðenð.eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxix. 132 He ne mæg witan hwæt he þencð.OE Genesis B 408 Onginnað nu ymb þa fyrde þencean!OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 119 Ðænce se abbod..hu micele byrðene and hu hefigtyme he underfeng mid þam hade.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Domitian A.viii) anno 995 Toeacan his timan wearð gewin & sorh on þysum lande, ðæt nan mann ne mihte ðencan embe naht elles butan.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 49 Þe man þe..ne þencð no þing þat he þurue ben þe loþere.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 221 God..hi nefre ne bide nane niede to þan yfele rede, ne yfel to þence, ne to donne.a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 63 Qvanne I zenke onne þe rode..I wepe.c1300 St. Gregory (Laud) l. 50 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 357 Þou þencst..with þi conseil al rome to bi-traiȝe.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3563 And ðenk, louerð, quat ben bi-foren Abram and ysaac and iacob sworen.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2072 Of me ðu ðhenke ðan it sal ben. ▸ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. iv. 15 Thenk thou thes thingis.a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 15 Þeneke on yure synnys for to mende þaim. ▸ 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 490 Thenkyn, cogito.a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 38 Who..canne ymmagine or thenke the poyson and the venyme that the wicked and the viciouse kynge soweth in his realme!1583 R. Sempill Warning to Lordis v Thenk quhow the..heroun hunttis the froig Thai vill devoir and vrak ȝow ane and ane. β. Old English þængst (2nd singular indicative), Old English ðencga (Northumbrian), Old English ðencgan, Old English þengan, Old English ðengca (Northumbrian), late Old English þængcð (3rd singular indicative), early Middle English þeng (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), early Middle English ðinge, Middle English þenge, Middle English ðenge, Middle English theinȝst (2nd singular indicative), Middle English thenge, Middle English thing, Middle English thinge, Middle English thinȝth (2nd singular indicative, before thou), Middle English thyng, Middle English thynge, Middle English thynghe, Middle English þing, Middle English þyng, Middle English þynge, Middle English ying. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xiv. 31 Quis rex..non..cogitat si possit cum decem milibus occurre [read occurrere] ei: huælc cynig..ahne..smeað uel ðencgað gifhueðer maeg mið teum uel tenum ðusendum iorna togægnes him.OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 62 Þam þe þas þing þengð to asmeagenne.a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 114 Ne þeng þu neuere þi lif to narruliche leden.c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 70 Hou thinȝth thou, nas heo hardi noȝt?a1400 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 258 Þeng wat þou art, & wat þou was.a1450 St. Etheldreda (Faust.) l. 112 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 285 Somme-what to ȝow of hym to speke we thengeþ.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 672 Scho..frayns him fast quat þe freke of hire fare thingis.c1500 (?a1475) Sir Landeval (Rawl. C. 86) (1889) 511 How dare ye now be so bolde With me to ride with-oute leve? Ye ought to thyng ye shuld me greue. γ. Old English þincan (rare), Old English þyncan (rare), early Middle English ðinke, Middle English dynke, Middle English ȝink, Middle English ȝynke, Middle English thienk, Middle English thinc, Middle English thingke, Middle English thinkke, Middle English thnkes (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), Middle English thync, Middle English thyngke, Middle English thynk, Middle English þince, Middle English þincke, Middle English þingke, Middle English þink, Middle English þinke, Middle English þyncke, Middle English þyngke, Middle English þynk, Middle English þynke, Middle English yinc, Middle English yinck, Middle English yincke, Middle English yink, Middle English yinke, Middle English yynk, Middle English yynke, Middle English (1500s Irish English) tynke, Middle English–1500s thyncke, Middle English–1500s thynke, Middle English–1600s thinck, Middle English–1600s thincke, Middle English–1600s thinke, Middle English– think, late Middle English þnyke (transmission error), late Middle English ynk (transmission error), 1500s thyink; Scottish pre-1700 thinck, pre-1700 thincke, pre-1700 thinke, pre-1700 thynk, pre-1700 1700s– think, 1900s– hink. eOE Royal Psalter xxxvii.19 Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego pronuntio et cogitabo pro peccato meo : unryhtwisnesse mine ic cyþe ic þynce [eOE Vespasian Psalter ðenco, lOE Canterbury Psalter þynce] for synne minre.OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. 22 He wolde mid his eadmodnysse astellan ða bysne, þæt nan cyning ne nan rice man [OE Corpus Cambr. 178 nanum cyninge ne nanum rican menn] ne sceolde þincan to huxlic þæt he gebuge to cristes fulluhte.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Ne þince man na sellice þet we soð seggen.a1275 Body & Soul (Trin. Cambr. B.14.39) l. 124 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 143 Virmes sitten on his breid [read bresd] and eten of is chin; haues he neuer a frend þat þinkis out of him.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 21630 Mar..Than ani man mai þinc [Vesp. thing] in thoȝt.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14187 Sir, quat thinckes þou??a1400 Wt Ryth (Douce 381) in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 146 Annes, be now stedfaste on allewys, & dynke on me, my swete Annys.a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxlv. 1 Þe purere part of mannys saule þat thynkis þe wisdom of god.a1525 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Trin. Dublin) (1896) 22 Other, that wors is..vs tynken vndo that god shild!1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thyncke often, reputo, as.1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 78 Indeed I can not think, if I would thinke my heart out of thinking, that you are in loue.1648 tr. J.-F. Senault Paraphr. Job 360 To thinke..on their domesticke affaires.1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 10 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Thinck Sir! how you may avenge us and the Persians.1741 H. Walpole Let. 22 Oct. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) I. 13 Do but think on a duel between Winnington and Augustus Townshend.1853 C. Dickens Let. 28 Nov. (1993) VII. 218 One of the great uses of travelling is to encourage a man to think for himself.1991 R. Crawford in T. Hubbard New Makars 173 When Strathgawkers or Strathgowkersblether aboot jinin thegitheran a tourist hinks baithwaant thi wan hing.1996 S. King Desperation iii. v. 485 She was trying to think what to do next—hell, what to do first—but her thoughts kept junking up on her. δ. early Middle English þench (3rd singular indicative, transmission error), early Middle English ðenche, early Middle English þunche (south-west midlands), Middle English þench, Middle English þenche, Middle English theching (present participle, transmission error), Middle English thenche, Middle English thynche, Middle English þinche, Middle English þynche. c1175 ( Ælfric's Homily on Nativity of Christ (Bodl. 343) in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 94 Hwilon heo þenchæþ [OE Julius þæncð] þa ðing ðe heo ær cuðe.a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 118 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 He sal hit þenche þanne.a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 61 Þet we ne þenchen ufel to don.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 65 To wac ha is istrengðet þet a windes puf a word mei afellen..ant hwa nule þunche wunder of ancre windfeallet?c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4267 And þench [c1300 Otho þinche] mid wulche deden þu miht werien þine leoden.c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 6534 Eten and drink men schal on benche And after mete in chaumber þenche.c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 67 Ther nys no man so wys þ^t koude thenche So gay a Popelote, or swich a wenche.a1450 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 4574 Ther was more good then man might thenche; Off sylver and gold, in that cyté. 2. Past tense α. Old English–early Middle English ðohte, Old English–Middle English þohte, early Middle English þeohte (south-west midlands), early Middle English ðhogt, early Middle English ðhogte, early Middle English ðodte, early Middle English ðogte, early Middle English ðoȝte, early Middle English þohhte ( Ormulum), early Middle English þohute, early Middle English þoðte, early Middle English þouste, early Middle English ðowgte, early Middle English yohute, Middle English ȝoght, Middle English thoght, Middle English thoghte, Middle English thoȝt, Middle English thoȝte, Middle English thoht, Middle English thoucht, Middle English thoug, Middle English thouȝt, Middle English thouȝte, Middle English þhouȝte, Middle English thougth, Middle English thouht, Middle English thouhte, Middle English thowcht, Middle English thowghte, Middle English thowth, Middle English þochte, Middle English toght, Middle English þoght, Middle English þoghte, Middle English þoȝt, Middle English þoȝte, Middle English þoh (probably transmission error), Middle English þoht, Middle English þoucte, Middle English þouȝ, Middle English þought, Middle English þougt, Middle English þouȝt, Middle English þouȝte, Middle English þouȝth, Middle English þouȝtte, Middle English þouht, Middle English þouhte, Middle English þout, Middle English þoute, Middle English þoutȝ, Middle English þouth, Middle English þouthe, Middle English þouthte, Middle English þowȝt, Middle English þowȝte, Middle English þowȝth, Middle English þowȝthe, Middle English þowthe, Middle English toyght (northern), Middle English toyȝt (northern), Middle English youhte, Middle English 1600s though, Middle English (1800s– regional and nonstandard) thot, Middle English–1500s thoughte, Middle English–1500s thowght, Middle English– thought, 1500s thaught, 1700s– tho't (regional and nonstandard), 1800s thocht (Irish English (northern)); English regional 1700s– thoft, 1700s– thort, 1700s– thout, 1800s thowte, 1800s– thate (Berkshire), 1800s– thoat (south-western), 1800s– thot (south-western), 1800s– thowt; U.S. regional 1800s thort, 1900s– thot; Scottish pre-1700 thoch, pre-1700 thochte, pre-1700 thoght, pre-1700 thoichit, pre-1700 thoight, pre-1700 thot, pre-1700 thoth, pre-1700 thouch, pre-1700 thouchte, pre-1700 thouȝte, pre-1700 thowght, pre-1700 thoycht, pre-1700 1700s tho't, pre-1700 1700s– thought, pre-1700 1800s thowcht, pre-1700 1800s– thocht, pre-1700 1800s– thoucht, pre-1700 (1800s– Shetland) tocht, 1700s– tought (chiefly Shetland and Orkney), 1800s– toucht (Shetland and Orkney), 1900s– thoat, 1900s– thowt, 1900s– tout (Orkney), 1900s– towt (Shetland). β. early Middle English þuhhte ( Ormulum), early Middle English ðuhte, Middle English thught, Middle English þught, Middle English þuȝt, Middle English þuhte. γ. late Middle English thynkyd, 1900s– thinked (English regional). δ. 1800s– thunk (English regional (Yorkshire) and Irish English (northern)). ε. 1800s– thoughten (English regional (Shropshire)). OE Blickling Homilies 7 Heo..ðohte hwæt seo halettung wære.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7312 Herode..þohhte þohh to cwellenn himm.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12071 Þuhte [c1300 Otho wiste] [see sense 13].c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 630 He þoute [c1300 Otho þohte] of his swefne.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2278 He þoðte heo to habben to his awere bihoue.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 2652 Hengist þoȝte þe king & is bytraye.a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 855 Sche þout þroly in herte þat leuer hire were.a1400 Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 985/43* Our lord ȝoght to tak mankynd and bring vus oute of woo.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3352 Ysaac..Thoght on thing he had to done.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 2039 Þe ȝonger broþer þuȝt ful wa.c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 848 Wel hym semed for-soþe, as þe segge þuȝt.c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 314 Whan tyme cam, men thoughte it for the beste That reuel stynte and men go to hir reste.a1425 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 212 I thougth ful litel on thilke day.a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) l. 9558 They thoug that they wold been Fyrst in the feld to be wele seen.1450 W. Lomnor in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 36 He thowght he was desseyuyd.c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 16739 Sho toyȝt [v.r. thoght] more þen scho sayd, bot mekyll myrth þei made.c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 928 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 90 Fore[-þi] I thowcht I wald nocht dwell.1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 69 He Thoucht that suld pass ane other way.1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 90 Tha thocht it greit folie.c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3189 Fele of þe folke febull it thughten.1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. ix. 146 I thought good to speak this.1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. xiii. 105 I thoft he had been an Officer himself.1805 R. Anderson Ballads in Cumberland Dial. 13 The breyde now thowt it time for bed; Her stockin doff'd, and flang 't quite soft.1864 B. Lloyd Ladies Polcarrow 102 I thoft, if so be you would be so handsome as to spake a word for me.1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style v, in Enoch Arden, etc. 130 I niver knaw'd whot a meän'd but I thowt a 'ad summat to saäy.1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 264 The ancient philosophers..thought of science only as pure abstraction.1879 W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. (1978) I. 161 Very bad spells, unable sometimes to walk a block (sometimes tho't it all nearing the end).1897 W. Dyke Craiktrees 156 I thort of you all the journey.1897 Shetland News 12 June Dey widna luik at him becaas dey tought he wis made o' hagery wirsit.1901 E. G. Hayden Trav. round Village 209 I was on piquet duty an' I thinked of you.1911 J. Conrad Under Western Eyes i. iii. 70 ‘What does he want with me?’ he thought with a strange dread.1956 W. M. Williams Sociol. Eng. Village vi. 135 It were a terrible thing for a lass to go into t'pub or smoke in t'street; aye man, folk thowt it were a sin tha went straight till Hell for.1971 Black World Mar. 53/1 She wuzn't sure but she thot it had.1997 J. Whinray Down 'long weth we 4 Well, I never thoft anybody wud ax that question. 3. Past participle α. Old English geþoht, Old English geðoht, Old English–early Middle English þoht, early Middle English geþouht, early Middle English ithoȝt, early Middle English iþouht, early Middle English iþout, early Middle English þoch (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English þohht ( Ormulum), Middle English ithought, Middle English iþoȝt, Middle English iþoht, Middle English iþohte, Middle English iþought, Middle English iþouȝt, Middle English thocht, Middle English thofte, Middle English though (perhaps transmission error), Middle English thouȝt, Middle English thouȝte, Middle English thowcht, Middle English thowght, Middle English thowt, Middle English þoght, Middle English þoȝt, Middle English þoȝte, Middle English þought, Middle English þouȝt, Middle English þouȝte, Middle English þouhte, Middle English þout, Middle English þouth (East Anglian), Middle English yoght, Middle English ythoght, Middle English ythought (in print of lost Middle English MS), Middle English ythouȝt, Middle English yþoȝt, Middle English yþouȝt, Middle English yþout, Middle English–1600s thoght, Middle English–1600s thoughte, Middle English– thought, 1500s thorte, 1500s thowthe, 1500s–1600s thoft, 1700s–1800s tho't (regional and nonstandard), 1700s– thot (regional and nonstandard); English regional 1700s–1800s thoft, 1800s– thart (south-western), 1800s– thout, 1800s– thowt; Scottish pre-1700 thochte, pre-1700 thoght, pre-1700 thoicht, pre-1700 thot, pre-1700 thoucht, pre-1700 though, pre-1700 thout, pre-1700 thoycht, pre-1700 1700s– thought, pre-1700 1800s thowcht, pre-1700 1800s– thocht, pre-1700 (1900s– Shetland) tocht, 1800s tought (Shetland), 1900s– toucht (Shetland), 1900s– towt (Shetland and Orkney); also Irish English (northern) 1800s thocht, 1900s– thot, 1900s– thoucht. β. 1800s thoughtit (Scottish), 1800s– thoughted (English regional (south-western)). γ. 1800s– thunk (English regional (Yorkshire)). δ. 1800s– thinken (English regional (Yorkshire)). ε. 1700s 1900s– thoughten (archaic); English regional (northern and midlands) 1600s– thoughten, 1800s– thouten, 1800s– thowten; Scottish 1900s– thochten. OE Confessionale Pseudo-Egberti (Junius) 170 Ofðinceð þe ealles þæs [þe] ðu to yfele geworht hæfst and geþoht and gecweden?c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2364 Wel haffde þohht to libben.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 71 Ure ateliche sinnes þe we hauen don and queðen and þoht.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6721 Þat he hæfde iþoht ær.c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 513 Ich haue yþouȝt.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 20092 Quat has þou thoght [Fairf. þoȝt, Trin. Cambr. þouȝt, Coll. Phys. þoȝte]?c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiii. l. 268 Þis wil be þouȝte [v.r. þouȝt on] longe.1427–8 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1427 §25. m. 5 Ye desired to have had þe governaunce of þis land..alleggyng for you such groundes and motyves as it was þought to youre discretion maad for youre entent.?1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 80 Yt was thought to my lorde off Wynchestre that my seyd lorde off Gloucestre toke vpon himsylff fferrer thanne his auctorite stretched vnto.c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 380 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 40 To do þis, hafe I thowcht.c1480 (a1400) St. Matthew 135 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 194 As men..thocht had.1482 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 314 To have a sustenans..as cane be thofte..resounabyll.1512–13 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 284 Such warkmen as shall make the Battyllment of our church of Breke or ston or led as shal be thorte best.1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxviii^v If I coude haue made chere to one, and ythought another.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxvj This was thought to be done for this intent.a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 31 These deeds must not be thought After these wayes.1696 T. Dilke Lover's Luck iv. 35 I thinken I ought to be thoughten so here.1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. xix. 19 The only advantage I pretend to, is that I have always thought and judged for myself.1789 W. Barrett Hist. & Antiq. Bristol ii. 37 Oxen and sheepe is thoughten to have beene the moste earlie Monie or Change.1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner xvi. 298 But there's this to be thought on, Eppie: things will change.1881 T. Hardy Laodicean I. iv. 43 It was thoughted worthy of being recorded in history.a1886 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) III. 1148 The right to perish might be tho't An undisputed right.1897 Longman's Mag. Nov. 10 Who ever'd ha' thart o' doin' sich a thing?1921 S. Phillips Coll. Plays 53 That bliss may be too sudden, may be slow, Howe'er it come; but it is thoughten wise, Not planned, not calculated.1961 A. Ginsberg Empty Mirror 55 You'd think I would have thought a plan to end the inner grind.1962 New Shetlander No. 62. 6 Naebody at saa her wid ever a tocht At shö bör sic a tap-swaar lodd. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian thanka , thenkia , thenzia , tinsa , etc., past tense thogte , tochte (present stem forms with stem vowel i may perhaps result from merger with a cognate of think v.¹; West Frisian tinke ), Old Dutch thenken , past tense thāhta (Middle Dutch denken , dinken , Dutch denken ), Old Saxon thenkian , past tense thāhta (Middle Low German denken ), Old High German thenken , denken , past tense thāhta , dāhta (Middle High German denken , German denken ), Old Icelandic þekkja , past tense þekkti , in early use also þátti , Old Swedish þækkia , Old Danish tække , Gothic þagkjan , past tense þāhta < the same Germanic base as thought n., thank n., and i-thank n., probably < the same Indo-European base as Old Latin tongēre to know (only in Ennius, as reported in a quotation in the 8th cent. a.d. writer Paulus Diaconus), Oscan tanginom opinion; a different ablaut grade is shown by think v.¹Old English þencan belongs (like þyncan think v.¹) to the subclass of weak Class I verbs in which the formative -i- of the present stem is absent in the past, hence the absence of i-mutation in the past tense and past participle. The Old English past tense þōhte shows loss of the postvocalic nasal and compensatory lengthening. The lengthened vowel of the past tense (and past participle) would have been subject to shortening before ht in late Old English or early Middle English. Old English spellings such as þencean (see Forms 1α) point to assibilation and affrication of the stem-final plosive; Middle English and later forms with medial -ch- (see Forms 1δ) clearly show the reflexes of Old English assibilated forms. By contrast, the Middle English and later forms with medial -k- (see Forms 1α, 1γ) lack assibilation; they probably derive < Old English forms of the 2nd and 3rd singular present indicative such as þencst , þencþ , where, as a result of syncopation, the consonant of the ending immediately followed the stem and prevented the assibilation of c (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §438). Apparent confusion of Old English þencan with the morphologically and semantically similar þyncan think v.¹ (as also of their corresponding prefixed forms) is evidenced in a few isolated examples (see quots. eOE, OE, lOE at Forms 1γ and compare discussion at think v.¹); on the eventual formal merger in Middle English between think v.¹ and think v.² see discussion at think v.¹ In Old English the prefixed form geþencan i-thenche v. is also attested in the same senses and also in the senses ‘to imagine, conceive’ (compare sense 5a), ‘to call to mind, remember’ (compare sense 7b), ‘to take into consideration’ (compare sense 10a), ‘to consider to be’ (compare sense 13a), ‘to think out, design, to perceive after consideration, learn’; compare also aþencan to think about, intend (compare a- prefix¹), beþencan bethink v., eftþencan , an element-by-element gloss of Latin recordari to remember, foreþencan forethink v., forþencan forthink v., geondþencan to contemplate, to examine every part of (life) (compare yond prep.), ofþencan to recall to mind (compare of- prefix), oferþencan overthink v.¹, underþencan to consider, to change one's mind, repent (compare under- prefix¹ and also underthink v.), ymbeþencan umbethink v. I. With emphasis on the action or process. The most general verb for expressing internal mental activity, excluding the simple perception of external things or passive reception of ideas. Essentially predicated of humans, but also (in any sense) in extended or figurative use, as of gods, animals, plants, or natural forces personified. 1. To form or hold in the mind (an idea, image, or intuition); to carry out (something) as a mental operation. a. transitive. With simple object (usually indefinite or cognate).to think the unthinkable: see unthinkable adj. and n. Additions. ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxix. 132 Þeah hwa mæge ongitan hwæt oðer do, he ne mæg witan hwæt he þencð. OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxlv. 3 Ealle þa geþohtas þe hi þohtan ær. a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 79 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 165 (MED) He wat wet þenkeð and hwet doð alle quike wihte. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 27101 Vr thoghtes ar þai be thoght. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 2541 Fals louers..in herte cunne thenke a thyng And seyn another in her spekyng. a1500 St. Brendan's Confession (Lamb.) l. 194 in Geibun-Kenkyu (1968) 25 13 I haue noþing..þouȝt, spoke, and doon þat I schulde not haue þouȝt, spoke, ne do. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxiiii Whatsoeuer he thought in his Imaginacion. 1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. vii. 50 To thinke so base a thought . View more context for this quotation 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 180 Any man that sees what I am doing, may easily perceive what I think. 1793 J. Boswell Life Johnson (ed. 2) anno 1778 III. 52 Many a man thinks, what he is ashamed to avow. 1871 S. Smiles Character i. 22 They think great thoughts. 1895 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 303 Don't begin to think hard things now. 1919 E. Glasgow Builders i. xiii. 205 Have you dared to think such a thing? 1956 E. Muir One Foot in Eden 57 Pity him, for he cannot think the thought Nor feel the pang that yet might set him free. 1970 College Eng. 31 824/2 What are we to think when the devices which the writer employs..are no longer merely the traditional figures of rhetoric and poetic? 1997 A. R. Ammons Glare 62 I tell myself to think happy thoughts but can't think of any: still. b. transitive. With a direct statement, question, or exclamation as object. Also in corresponding indirect constructions (see also senses 2a, 5a, 7b, 8b, 11a(a)). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > think or have in mind [verb (transitive)] holdOE thinkOE makea1400 carry1583 entertain1583 lodge1583 conceit?1589 reflect1611 braina1616 OE Blickling Homilies 21 Swiþe eaþe þæt mæg beon þæt sume men þencan oþþe cweþan, ‘hu mæg ic secan þæt gastlice leoht?’ lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 97 Ne sceal he naðer ne cweðen ne þæncen, ‘Ic forleas min gode weorc, þe ic ær worhte.’ a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 87 Oðer hwile he ðe wile undernemen and ðus ðe don þenchen: ‘Hwi wilt ðu ðurhwuniȝen on ðine sennes anon to ðine deaðe?’ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1741 Þouthe ubbe, ‘Yf I late hem go..So mote ich brouke finger or to, For þis wimman bes mike wo!’ c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 1138 ‘Alas,’ þoȝt I, ‘who did þat spyt?’ c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 939 Parfay thoughte he, fantome is in myn heed. a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 112 He thought to him selfe, ‘how many this be?’ 1611 Bible (King James) 2 Kings v. 11 I thought, He will surely come out to me. View more context for this quotation 1637 J. Milton Comus 20 Ô poore haplesse nightingale thought I. 1688 J. Bunyan Advocateship Christ Clearly Explained 16 Do not therefore think of thy self above what by plain Texts, and fair Inferences, drawn from Christ's Offices, thou art bound to think. What doth it bespeak concerning thee, that Christ is always a Priest in Heaven. 1693 R. Bentley Confut. Atheism from Origin of World: 3rd Pt. 16 If any one shall think with himself, How then can any thing live in Mercury and Saturn? 1719 D. Waterland Vindic. Christ's Divinity vii. 119 And you might think; what could it signify to date his Being Higher? 1754 Coll. Hymns Children of God in All Ages (Moravian Church) ii. ccv.153/1 They thought: What is't to be as angels fine, If we're not wash'd in Jesu's Blood divine? 1788 G. A. Stevens Songs, Comic & Satyrical (new ed.) in Lect. on Heads (new ed.) 190 Only think what is man? 1842 Ld. Tennyson Dora in Poems (new ed.) II. 33 He..often thought ‘I'll make them man and wife’. 1911 J. Conrad Under Western Eyes i. iii. 70 ‘What does he want with me?’ he thought with a strange dread. 1943 D. Whipple They were Sisters ii. 24 She must break it to him about the girls. It was not that he didn't like them, she thought, but that he didn't like visitors. 1993 J. Meades Pompey (1994) 85 He thought: she's had it away with my gin, the cheap little thief—and so she had. 2. To turn over in the mind, meditate on, ponder over, consider. a. With indirect question or exclamation as object. (For direct construction see sense 1b.) (a) transitive. In reference to a fact or possibility. ΚΠ OE Blickling Homilies 7 Þæt heo Maria æfter þæs engles bletsunga & halettunga lange smeade, & swigende ðohte hwæt seo halettung wære. c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 173 Sanctus Petrus wæs swiðe mid þam wuldre ofercumen þe he þær iseah, þæt he for þon ne þohte hwæt he speke. a1350 (?c1225) King Horn (Harl.) (1901) l. 1163 Horn..seide, ‘quene, þou þench what y þreu in þe drench.’ a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1323 (MED) Seth bigan to thinc for-qui þat þis tre bi-com sua dri. 1486 Bk. St. Albans e ij b Thynke what I say my sonne nyght and day. a1500 Legend of Cross in Medium Ævum (1965) 34 214 (MED) Bigan hym silf to thynk whi this tree was so naked. a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) 574 Howe many daies haue we spent, & yet neuer thought why any day was giuen vs? 1601 S. Daniel Ciuill Warres (rev. ed.) vi. lxxiv. f. 92^v, in Wks. Thinke whether this poore State..Stands not in need of some vpraysing hand. 1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 145 Think, when your castigated pulse Gies now and then a wallop, What ragings must his veins convulse, That still eternal gallop. 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain Pref. p. viii The young should take one hint, to think whether their hopes and upward-breathings are truly upwards. 1881 A. Trollope Dr. Wortle's School II. iv. 65 Mrs. Wortle began to think whether the visitor could have known of her intended absence. 1918 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 29 61 Nicholas Bulstrode in Middlemarch, watching by the bedside and allowing himself to think whether the death of the patient would not on the whole be ‘for the glory of God’. 1967 Perspecta 11 67 Now think whether you would like to spend your life at Yale. 1981 L. Lochhead Grimm Sisters 25 The lady thought as she drifted off to sleep How monotonous it would be To live on rabbit stew forever. 2003 G. G. Duffy Explaining Reading ii. 99 We have to think whether we have experience with dogs ‘singing out’. (b) transitive. In reference to something to be done, with implication of purpose or intention (cf. senses 8, 9). ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > intend [verb] > intend to do something weenOE willOE thinkOE tightc1300 to be (later also to have it) in purpose1340 tend1340 cast138. reckona1450 aimc1450 willc1450 esteema1533 suspect1629 predeterminea1641 OE St. Andrew (Corpus Cambr.) in F. G. Cassidy & R. N. Ringler Bright's Old Eng. Gram. & Reader (1971) 214 And hie þohton hu hie hine acwellan meahton. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 137 (MED) Ðe gode mann is niht and daiȝ þeinkinde hu he muȝe gode icwemen, and him betst hersumen. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4267 And þench [c1300 Otho þinche] mid wulche deden þu miht werien þine leoden. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §757 Thynkynge how she myghte brynge this nede vn to a good conclusion. 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iv. viii. 184 He began to thynke in what maner he myght escape the deth. 1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades x. 183 So that I to him brought From out your campe some certain newes, & whervpon you thought, Whether you meant to take the sea, or to your tackle stand. 1591 H. Smith Pride Nabuchadnezzar 4 Then was hee stalking in his galleries, and thinking what sinne should be next. a1605 W. Haughton English-men for my Money (1616) sig. E4 Oh maister Mouse,..it would make any Mouse, Ratte, Catte, or Dogge, laugh to thinke, what sport we shall have. 1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 10 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Thinck Sir! how you may avenge us and the Persians. 1703 N. Rowe Fair Penitent iv. i Think, whom I shou'd devote to Death and Hell, Whom Curse, as my Undoer, but Lothario. 1778 F. Burney Evelina II. ii. 38 A thinking what he should do. 1852 H. W. Herbert Cavaliers of Eng. iii. 391 It seems to me it were my first essay to get a husband, not to think how to lose one. 1882 R. Jefferies Bevis III. ix. 142 Could you think how to make a fish-spear? 1929 Pacific Affairs 2 695 He is constantly to think how to serve heaven and earth. 1961 Numen 8 174 Sit for about an hour and think how to keep both your outer and your inner senses from the stains of sin. 1996 S. King Desperation iii. v. 485 She was trying to think what to do next—hell, what to do first—but her thoughts kept junking up on her. b. transitive. With simple object. Now only: to have one's mental processes full of, centred on, or influenced by; to formulate or hold ideas in terms of (cf. sense 2c).In Old English also with genitive of object. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > meditate upon [verb (transitive)] thinkOE overthinkOE recorda1400 studya1400 imaginec1405 revolve?c1425 contemplairec1525 brood1589 recollect1626 the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > conceive, form in the mind [verb (transitive)] readOE thinkOE bethinkc1175 makea1400 imaginec1400 conceive?a1425 suppose1586 conceit1591 ideate1610 braina1616 forma1616 engross1632 cogitate1856 conceptualize1873 the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > imagine or visualize [verb (transitive)] seeOE thinkOE bethinkc1175 devise1340 portraya1375 imagec1390 dreama1393 supposea1393 imaginea1398 conceive?a1425 fantasyc1430 purposea1513 to frame to oneselfa1529 'magine1530 imaginate1541 fancy1551 surmit?1577 surmise1586 conceit?1589 propose1594 ideate1610 project1612 figurea1616 forma1616 to call up1622 propound1634 edify1645 picture1668 create1679 fancify1748 depicture1775 vision1796 to conjure up1819 conjure1820 envisage1836 to dream up1837 visualize1863 envision1921 pre-visualize1969 the mind > attention and judgement > attention > earnest attention, concentration > fix the attention, concentrate [verb (transitive)] > in one direction concentre1643 think1821 concentrate1860 to zero in1955 OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) v. 1 Ongyt mine stemne and min gehrop, and ðenc þara worda minra gebeda. OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxviii. 117 Gefultuma me fæste; ðonne beo ic fægere hal, and ic þine soðfæstnysse symble þence. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 118 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 Al þat afri man haueð idon..he sal hit þenche þanne. a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 19 (MED) Wanne i ðenke ðinges ðre ne mai hi neure bliðe ben. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. iv. 15 Thenk thou thes thingis. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 24064 I thinc it euer and ai. a1400 Psalter (Egerton) i. 2 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 130 And his lagh þincke he night and dai. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 31 These deeds must not be thought After these wayes. View more context for this quotation 1725–6 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. 133 Is it not a derogation to Ulysses, to think nothing but what the Goddess dictates? 1821 Ld. Byron Diary 29 Jan. in Poet. Wks. (1846) 505/1 They talk Dante—write Dante—and think and dream Dante. 1859 Habits Good Society Pref. A horse-dealer..if he thinks nothing but horses, he cannot be good society. 1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. ii. 96 Unless thou hast been drinking beer and thinking beer. 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Oct. 7/2 The present generation of Greeks talks French but thinks German. 1913 Eng. Jrnl. 2 172 You see nothing but neckties and gloves, you think nothing but receptions and teas. 1935 Music Educators Jrnl. 22 16/2 If we wish to do big things we must think big things and never forget that there are no impossibilities. 2007 Washington Post (Nexis) 19 Nov. a1 ‘A lot of people think nothing but polygamy’ when they hear of the Mormons. c. transitive. With adjective as complement or used adverbially: to have one's mental processes full of, centred on, or influenced by, or to concentrate on, things that are of the specified kind or quality (cf. sense 2b). Frequently in slogans. Esp. and earliest in to think big (see also big adv. 2c). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)] > in specified way unmuddled1825 think1903 the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > aspire [verb (intransitive)] affect?a1425 aspirec1460 affectate1560 to think big1903 trod1909 to raise one's sights1950 1903 P.E. Burrowes Revolutionary Ess. in Socialist Faith & Fancy v. 40 When they..find that in order to relieve one poor little fellow's trouble they must relieve the president's, they begin to think big. 1954 N. V. Peale in Washington Post 5 June 18/7 Think big, believe big, pray big. 1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship xv. 300 Living in a small town had subtly affected my mind, and I had begun to Think Small. 1970 in M. Pei Words in Sheep's Clothing ii. 14 For those who think old! 1972 D. Haston In High Places xii. 139 With people pulling off tricks like the West Ridge, Dhynenfurth was not day-dreaming in thinking tall. 1979 Now! 21 Sept. 134/3 Simple, uncluttered and tubular they illustrate fashion's new mood of ‘think thin’. 1981 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 2/3 (heading) ‘Think British’ call to CBI firms. 2007 J. Craig One Team in Tallinn vii. 87 He was wearing a tartan baseball cap which had a piece of plastic stuck on its front, the bit of plastic having ‘Think Scottish’ printed on it. 3. To exercise or occupy the mind, esp. the understanding, in any active way; to form connected ideas of any kind; to allow or cause a train of ideas to pass through the mind; to meditate, cogitate. a. intransitive. With about, of, on, upon (archaic), †by (rare), †to (rare), or †umbe. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)] howOE mintOE thinkOE panse1559 tink1584 excogitate1630 cogitate1633 intelligize1803 nut1919 cerebrate1928 the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > think about, consider [verb (intransitive)] thinkOE thinkOE bethinka1200 umthinka1300 to have mind ofc1300 casta1340 studya1375 delivera1382 to chew the cudc1384 to take advisementa1393 stema1400 compassc1400 advisec1405 deliberc1405 to make it wisec1405 to take deliberationc1405 enter?a1413 riddlec1426 hovec1440 devise?c1450 to study by (also in) oneself?c1450 considerc1460 porec1500 regard1523 deliberate1543 to put on one's thinking or considering cap1546 contemplate1560 consult1565 perpend1568 vise1568 to consider of1569 weigh1573 ruminate1574 dascanc1579 to lay to (one's) heart1588 pondera1593 debate1594 reflect1596 comment1597 perponder1599 revolvea1600 rumine1605 consider on, upon1606 to think twice1623 reflex1631 spell1645 ponderatea1652 to turn about1725 to cast a thought, a reflection upon1736 to wake over1771 incubatea1847 mull1857 fink1888 OE Blickling Homilies 57 Myccle swiðor we sceolan þencan be þæm gastlicum þingum þonne be þæm lichomlicum. OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity (Corpus Cambr. 201) 123 Riht is, þæt munecas..inweardre heortan a to Gode þencan and geornlice clypian. OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxvii. 8 God ys on dryhten georne to þenceanne. lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 97 Seo soðe geðyld is, þæt mann hwylce uneðnysse on anweardnysse ellenlice aræfne, & næfre emb þa wræce ne þænce, ac hit on his heorte forgyfe. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 17 Ac ðu..noldest þenchen of ðine forðsiðe. c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 32 Ac Floriz þencheþ al on oþer, For he net ne dronk riȝt noȝt. c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 446 Nou is deþ a wonder þing And grislich for to þenken on. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 15612 To thinc apon his care. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 9977 [She] þouȝte neuer to wicked dede. 1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 6 Think & loke wele vpon your werkis without hasting you. a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1980) ii. 299 (MED) Let hym þinkyn of þe byttir pynys þat Crist suffryd in hys syde, hondis and feet. a1500 ( Vision E. Leversedge (1991) 129 Do penaunce þerfor þat He wille forȝif þem þer offencis and never more to thinke þerupon. c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 26 Who now thought of nothing, but the pursute of Vanity, and the confus'd imaginations of Young men. 1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 100 It..makes him think upon Pay-day. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. viii. vi. 263 Think of it well ere you proceed. 1798 M. Edgeworth & R. L. Edgeworth Pract. Educ. II. xxi. 578 Children whose minds are well managed about trifles, will retain good habits when they are to think about matters of consequence. 1831 Times 20 Sept. 3/4 In the fervour of joy which took place at the late coronation, it was impossible to think of every thing that might be done by the King to gratify his people. 1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner xvi. 298 But there's this to be thought on, Eppie: things will change. 1886 H. James Bostonians xxi. 188 He had thought a great deal about social and economical questions. 1939 H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn 79 After that I began to think about another woman, the wife of one of my friends who always twitted me about my indifference. 1945 College Eng. 6 382/2 Were his boys to misuse their time by reading Browning, Milton, and Shakespeare? It was not to be thought of. 1955 Recorded Interview (Brit. Libr. Sound Archive) (Survey Eng. Dial.: C908) (MS transcript) Track 46 [Yorkshire] I used to milk about 15 cows..beore I got my breakfast, hand-milk. Think on, it wasn't machine-milking. 1979 G. Swarthout Skeletons 196 They offered him a thousand dollars... He said he'd think on it. 2001 W. J. Doherty Take back your Marriage 176 It's just something to think about, like the notion of building a new patio for the house some day. b. intransitive. Without following preposition introducing the object of thought and often with adverbial. to think aloud (also out loud): to express one's thoughts by audible speech as they pass through the mind. to think for oneself: to form independent judgements, not to be over-influenced by preconceptions or received opinions.to give (one) furiously to think: see give v. Phrases 8; to hear oneself think: see hear v. 3d; to think outside the box: see box n.² Phrases 7; to think straight: see straight adv. 1g. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > independence > be independent [verb (intransitive)] > be uninfluenced by others to think for oneself1735 to live one's own life1833 the mind > language > speech > monologue > talk in monologue [verb (intransitive)] soliloquize1759 to think aloud (also out loud)1789 monologue1825 Hamletize1844 monologuize1870 monologize1890 OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxiv. 63 He eode ut on þæt land, ðencende [L. egressus fuerat at meditandum in agro]. OE Ælfric Homily: De Doctrina Apostolica (Hatton 115) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 623 Paulus, þeoda lareow, cwæð.., Ða ða ic wæs lytel and iung,..ic þohte swa swa lytlingc [L. cogitabam ut parvulus]. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xiii. 11 Whanne I was a litil child..I thouȝte as a litil child. c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 17 (MED) He leue vs þenche and worchen so Þat he vs schylde from vre fo. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 53^v (MED) He þat ys Malancolie is..proud in maneris & in berynge, þenkynge to myche by him silf, and also he loueþ to goon aloone. 1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thinke muche, reputo. a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. iv. 1 When I would pray, & think, I thinke, and pray To seuerall subiects. View more context for this quotation 1677 J. Dryden State Innocence ii. i. 8 That I am I know, because I think. 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. i. 40 There is something in us, that has a Power to think. 1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. xix. 19 The only advantage I pretend to, is that I have always thought and judged for myself. 1765 O. Goldsmith Traveller (ed. 2) 20 Those who think must govern those that toil. 1789 W. W. Grenville Let. 12 Apr. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinet George III (1853) II. 141 If I were to write volumes to you, I could only enlarge upon these points, on which I have already fully written to you, and with the same freedom and sincerity as if I were thinking aloud. 1853 C. Dickens Let. 28 Nov. (1993) VII. 218 One of the great uses of travelling is to encourage a man to think for himself. 1858 H. S. Randall Life T. Jefferson I. xiii. 505 These off-hand, bold expressions of his are not perhaps oftener erroneous than those of other men, who dare, like him, to think out loud. 1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic i. 10 To think is to make clear through Concepts something already otherwise represented or known to consciousness. 1891 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 1 383 The right to think independently in religion. 1920 Science 16 Jan. 57/1 His aim with young students was..to teach them to think for themselves. 1958 J. Wain Contenders vi. 127 I was standing there, thinking gloomily along these sort of lines, when Ned came up to me. 1974 Times 1 May 6/6 Those matters were thoroughly probed..the President often taking the role of devil's advocate; sometimes merely thinking out loud. 1974 D. L. Edwards What Anglicans Believe xii. 100 Anglican laymen have been encouraged to think for themselves. 1995 R. Dove Mother Love 38 He only wanted me for happiness: to walk in air and not think so much. 2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Dec. ix. 13/5 I don't see smoking as a ritual... It gives me time to think. c. intransitive. not even to think about (also of): to refrain from pursuing or even considering (something, esp. a particular course of action). Now frequently in imperative, esp. in don't even think about it!: on no account carry out the action implied or specified. ΚΠ 1751 E. Haywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless III. v. 64 ‘I will not hear a word on that head,’ cried Mr. Trueworth, hastily interrupting him, ‘and if you would add to the favours you have already conferred upon me, do not even think of it.’ 1835 M. W. Shelley Lodore III. ii. 15 ‘Indeed, indeed, love,’ she replied, ‘we will not be separated again.’ ‘We will not even think about that tonight,’ said Villiers. 1875 A. Trollope Way we live Now I. xxvii. 171 She had no plan of revenge yet formed. She would not talk of revenge,—she told herself that she would not even think of revenge,—till she was quite sure that revenge would be necessary. 1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, here I Come! i. 36 It taught you a lesson. Didn't it just? Now I wouldn't even think of travelling. 1992 D. Parry & P. Withrow Jacamar Nest xlii. 298 Harry jerked forward in his chair but the woman swung the barrel of the gun around to his temple, and there was a click like the sound of a door locking as she thumbed back the hammer. ‘Don't even think about it,’ she said. 2001 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 1 Apr. They had a bag on the side [of the director's chair] for scripts and drinks, his name on the back and his warning on the seat: ‘Don't even think about it’ to keep others from sitting in his chair. †4. transitive. To experience, feel (an emotion) as a response to something, esp. an action or circumstance (regional in later use); †to think wonder (also ferly): to feel wonderment (obsolete). Now only in to think scorn of, to think (it) scorn at scorn n. 4, to think shame, to think it shame at shame n. Phrases 2. Obsolete.Probably replacing think v.¹ 1 in this context: cf. quots. OE, lOE¹. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > happen or move unexpectedly [verb (intransitive)] > feel surprised to think wonder (also ferly)lOE to have wondera1400 admirec1429 startle1562 to think (it) strange of (or concerning)1585 to come short?1611 strange1639 to think (it) much1669 admirize1702 to go (all) hot and cold1845 to take to1862 surprise1943 not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1961 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > be a matter of wonder [verb (intransitive)] > regard with wonder to think wonder (also ferly)lOE bemaze1879 OE Blickling Homilies 179 For teonan me þincþ wundor. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1085 Hit is sceame to tellanne, ac hit ne þuhte him nan sceame to donne.] lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Ne þince man na sellice þet we soð seggen. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 65 To wac ha is istrengðet þet a windes puf a word mei afellen..ant hwa nule þunche wunder of ancre windfeallet? a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10601 Hir freindes..Thoght ferli hou sco þider wan. a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 17 (MED) Many haddyn gret enuy and mych wondyr thoght of Robert de Barry. 1796 J. Lauderdale Coll. Poems Sc. Dial. 8 Dinna think..Tho' now I wipe my face, And drop the heart felt, friendly tear, I think the least disgrace. c1880 W. G. Lyttle Paddy McQuillan 11 Puir fellow! A thought a peety o' him. 5. To form or have an idea of (a thing, action, or circumstance) in one's mind; to imagine, conceive, fancy, picture. a. transitive. With object clause or †simple object, referring to something real or imaginary. Now chiefly in colloquial phrases you can't think and variants, and (with disjunction of object) just (also only) think! ΚΠ OE Wulfstan Creed (Hatton 113) 164 Nis æfre ænig man þe sylf geþencan cunne oðþon oðrum areccan mæge hwylce þa mærða & ða myrhða syn.] c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1761 Cristess hallȝe bede maȝȝ Towarrd hiss faderr forþenn Vnnseȝȝenndlike mare inoh ðann aniȝ wihht maȝȝ þennkenn. a1325 St. Kenelm (Corpus Cambr.) l. 110 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 283 (MED) Þis luþer quene biþoȝte hure of an felle wrenche, For me seiþ þer nis no felonie þat womman ne can þenche. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 647 Es nan forsoth wit hert mai think,..þe mikel ioy þat þam es lent. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 67 Ther nys no man so wys þ^t koude thenche So gay a Popelote, or swich a wenche. 1415 Rolls of Parl. IV. 85/1 As free..as hert may thynk, or eygh may see. a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 38 (MED) Who..canne ymmagine or thenke the poyson and the venyme that the wicked and the viciouse kynge soweth in his realme! 1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream Epil. 2 Thinke but this..That you haue but slumbred here. View more context for this quotation 1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. viii. 23 Thou seest not what thou thinkst before thy eye. 1782 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2012) V. 191 You can't think how I'm incumbered with these Ruffles! 1864 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 220 Only think! I get my new milk again, at eight. 1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. xxii. 281 What the deuce put it into my head to run away at all, I can't think! 1920 C. B. De Mille Royal Mounted iii. 61 Just think—you might be hit with a trolley car and ye'd never see another sunset. 1964 ‘S. Woods’ Trusted like Fox xi. 105 I can't think why they don't get a car. 1995 D. Coupland Microserfs (1996) iii. 142 Just think, in 50 years these same kids will be sitting at the switches of our life-support systems. b. intransitive. With of or (archaic) on, referring to something real or imaginary. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > imagine or visualize [verb (intransitive)] areachc1220 supposea1393 thinka1400 framea1529 to conceive of1570 humour1605 imagine1631 conceive1658 realize1658 visualize1871 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18802 Quat hert mai thinc o suilk honur. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 185 He had..all maner of foules & of bestes þat ony man myghte thenke on. a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1980) ii. 318 (MED) What may ben þout of ony goodnesse, þer schal it ben fondyn. 1554 M. Huggarde Path waye to Towre of Perfection sig. C^v Thinking of that ioy my hart did reuiue. 1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iii. v. 106 Thinke of that hissing heate. 1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 41 The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather that can be thought of. View more context for this quotation 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 89. ¶3 I shall endeavour to shew the Folly of Demurrage... I would have them seriously think on the Shortness of their Time. 1741 H. Walpole Let. 22 Oct. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) I. 13 Do but think on a duel between Winnington and Augustus Townshend. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 99 Can I think of her as dead? 1844 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 125 Think of the rocococity of a gentleman studying Seneca in the middle of February 1844 in a remarkably damp cottage. 1861 J. Pycroft Agony Point xlvi Think of me ever being rich! 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 264 The ancient philosophers..thought of science only as pure abstraction. 1937 W. M. Raine Bucky follows Cold Trail vi. 65 To think of that warm smile and the gay friendliness of the long-lashed eyes wiped out forever filled her with sharp compunction. 1969 I. Murdoch Bruno's Dream xi. 94 When I was very young..I thought of God as a great blank thing, rather like the sky. 2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 Apr. viii. 1/1 There is a Hollywood instinct to think of female boxing as a destitute gal's career choice alternative to exotic dancing. c. transitive. With simple object, referring to something real: to form a definite conception of by a conscious mental act; to picture in one's mind, apprehend clearly (with or without direct perception). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > conceive, form in the mind [verb (transitive)] > something real conceit1557 think1864 1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic i. 5 We..are thus enabled to think the landscape as a whole. 1885 J. Martineau Types Ethical Theory (ed. 2) I. i. xi. §8. 212 When you think this equation [i.e. the surface of a sphere = area of circle of twice its diameter]. 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xx. 203 We think the ocean as a whole by multiplying mentally the impression we get at any moment when at sea. a1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 489 I want men and women to be able to think sex, fully, completely, honestly and clearly. 1978 National Geographic Nov. 615/2 When people think apple,..they usually think red. 2003 I. Ryder in N. Ind Beyond Branding ix. 152 The last few years have seen a significant shift in the way marketing inside technology companies has developed brand positioning and messages (think Orange, think Sony, think Intel). 6. transitive. With adverbial: to bring into or out of a specified condition by the exercise of the mind; to imagine what it would be like to be in (a position or role). Frequently reflexive. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > imagine or visualize [verb (transitive)] > bring about by imagining think1600 opinionate1650 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 78 Indeed I can not think, if I would thinke my heart out of thinking, that you are in loue. View more context for this quotation 1666 R. South Serm. preached at Lambeth-Chappel 19 He that Thinks a man to the ground, will quickly endeavour to Lay him there. 1759 O. Goldsmith Let. c13 Jan. (1928) 58 I have thought myself into settled melancholly. 1825 Pocket Mag. Classic & Polite Lit. 3 411 He fairly thought himself into a sweat. 1866 H. Bushnell Vicarious Sacrifice ii. iv. 187 We hardly dare think them..into our finite molds. 1958 C. Tomlinson Seeing is Believing (1960) 36 They think us back To that first green, which the mind Tender-skinned, since grazed to the pain of sight, shrank at. 1987 R. Ingalls End of Trag. 120 Trouble is, I'm too used to thinking myself into a part. 2003 M. D. Sheriff in K. Frederickson & S. E. Webb Singular Women 53 But could I glimpse through her self-representations how the artist thought herself out of patriarchal definitions? II. With emphasis on an idea, image, or intuition that is the object or result of the action. 7. To call (a fact, circumstance, or other consideration) to mind. a. intransitive. To exercise the mind about or consider a particular matter; to reflect. Now often in it makes you think. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > think about, consider [verb (intransitive)] thinkOE thinkOE bethinka1200 umthinka1300 to have mind ofc1300 casta1340 studya1375 delivera1382 to chew the cudc1384 to take advisementa1393 stema1400 compassc1400 advisec1405 deliberc1405 to make it wisec1405 to take deliberationc1405 enter?a1413 riddlec1426 hovec1440 devise?c1450 to study by (also in) oneself?c1450 considerc1460 porec1500 regard1523 deliberate1543 to put on one's thinking or considering cap1546 contemplate1560 consult1565 perpend1568 vise1568 to consider of1569 weigh1573 ruminate1574 dascanc1579 to lay to (one's) heart1588 pondera1593 debate1594 reflect1596 comment1597 perponder1599 revolvea1600 rumine1605 consider on, upon1606 to think twice1623 reflex1631 spell1645 ponderatea1652 to turn about1725 to cast a thought, a reflection upon1736 to wake over1771 incubatea1847 mull1857 fink1888 the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > indicating reflection [phrase] for all the worlda1375 let me seec1405 let us (also let's) see1764 it makes you think1879 OE Beowulf (2008) 289 Æghwæþres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescad witan, worda ond worca, se þe wel þenceð. OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) v. 21 Þa agunnon þencan [L. cogitare] þa boceras & Farisei & cwædon, hwæt is þes þe her sprycþ woffunga? 1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull B6 Thinke well and thou shalt speake wel. 1604 R. Pricket Honors Fame sig. D 3 Stay, pawse, thinke, sigh, weepe first, & then read on. 1733 J. Swift Epist. to Lady 7 Metaphorick Meat and Drink, Is to understand, and think. 1800 W. Cowper Inscr. Tomb Hamilton in Poems (new ed.) II Pause here, and think. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Dora in Poems (new ed.) II. 34 Consider: take a month to think. 1862 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 286 I somehow fancy a line of nonsense will catch you at Ely: and yet, now I come to think, you will have left Ely, probably. 1879 J. Blackwood Let. 14 Jan. in ‘G. Eliot’ Lett. (1956) VII. 94 I have been reading it all with great interest, and it does make one think. 1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine i. 41 I wonder why it [sc. a carrier pigeon] had a message from Swansea... Makes you think, that, doesn't it? 1968 G. Mitchell Three Quick & Five Dead ii. 67 ‘But young Otto is a psychopath!’ said Laura. ‘Makes you think a bit, that does,’ agreed the Superintendent. 1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird x. 127 Remember how Comer came bursting in one evening?.. It makes you think, doesn't it? 1981 P. O'Donnell Xanadu Talisman iv Please think before you speak. 1999 J. Cassidy Street Life 119 He'd only done a runner from me because our arguing had upset him so much he'd needed time to think. b. transitive. With object clause: to call to mind after having neglected or forgotten; to consider, reflect upon; to recollect, remember, bear in mind. Often in the infinitive as the main verb in an exclamation, introducing a statement of a fact regarded as remarkable or surprising. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > call to mind, recollect [verb (transitive)] i-thenchec897 bethinkOE mingOE thinkOE monelOE umbethinkc1175 to draw (also take) into (or to) memorya1275 minc1330 record1340 revert1340 remembera1382 mindc1384 monishc1384 to bring to mindc1390 remenec1390 me meanetha1400 reducec1425 to call to mind1427 gaincall1434 pense1493 remord?1507 revocate1527 revive1531 cite1549 to call back1572 recall1579 to call to mind (also memory, remembrance)1583 to call to remembrance1583 revoke1586 reverse1590 submonish1591 recover1602 recordate1603 to call up1606 to fetch up1608 reconjure1611 collect1612 remind1615 recollect1631 rememorize1632 retrieve1644 think1671 reconnoitre1729 member1823 reminisce1829 rememorate1835 recomember1852 evoke1856 updraw1879 withcall1901 access1978 the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > consider, deliberate [verb (transitive)] i-thenchec897 showeOE i-mune971 thinkOE overthinkOE takec1175 umbethinkc1175 waltc1200 bethinkc1220 wend?c1225 weighc1380 delivera1382 peisea1382 considerc1385 musec1390 to look over ——a1393 advise?c1400 debatec1400 roll?c1400 revert?a1425 advertc1425 deliberc1425 movec1425 musec1425 revolvec1425 contemplec1429 overseec1440 to think overc1440 perpend1447 roil1447 pondera1450 to eat inc1450 involvec1470 ponderate?a1475 reputec1475 counterpoise1477 poisea1483 traversec1487 umbecast1487 digest1488 undercast1489 overhalec1500 rumble1519 volve?1520 compassa1522 recount1526 trutinate1528 cast1530 expend1531 ruminate1533 concoct1534 contemplate1538 deliberate1540 revolute1553 chawa1558 to turn over1568 cud1569 cogitate1570 huik1570 chew1579 meditatec1580 discourse1581 speculate1599 theorize1599 scance1603 verse1614 pensitate1623 agitate1629 spell1633 view1637 study1659 designa1676 introspect1683 troll1685 balance1692 to figure on or upon1837 reflect1862 mull1873 to mull over1874 scour1882 mill1905 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > expressing surprise [phrase] it (or that) is (was, were, etc.) no wonder1362 it is (a) wondera1400 the wonder is‥1608 you could (or might) have knocked me (etc.) down with a feather1740 think1746 for a wonder1782 to hush one's mouth1903 you'd be surprised1926 OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) lxiii. 104 Sed cogitet semper quia de omnibus judiciis et operibus suis redditurus est deo rationem : ac he þænce simle þæt he be eallum his domumum [read domum] & weorcum be his is to gildanne. lOE Distichs of Cato (Trin. Cambr.) xi, in Anglia (1972) 90 6 Þonne þu geselgost sio, þenc þonne þæt þu mæge unselða geðolian gif heo ðe on becumen: forðam þe se ende & þæt angin ne bið ealne weg gelic. c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 173 Leofæ men, we sceolen..understonden and þencen hwæt þe heofenlice Kyng for us ðrowode. c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 17 (MED) Fleschliche þonkes..eggið þe to brudlac..ant makied þe to þenchen hwuch delit were þrin. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 257 (MED) Þe ilke eddre..be-charmeþ þe riche men Ac huo þet..stoppeþ þet on eare mid erþe, þet þengþ þet he is of erþe and to erþe ssel come..ssolde..by wel ytempred. a1400 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 258 (MED) Þeng wat þou art, & wat þou was. 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) i. iii. 15 Yf thou be a man thinke that thou shalt dye. a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 106 (MED) Conforte the in this caas and thyncke that the bruyt of thine enemyes ys not perdurable. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 49 I am afraid, to thinke what I haue done. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 135 Fool, not to think how vain Against th' Omnipotent to rise in Arms. View more context for this quotation 1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles ii. i. 272 To think that Asses should in Judgement sit, In solid Deafness, on the Works of Wit. a1774 O. Goldsmith tr. P. Scarron Comic Romance (1775) II. vii. 71 To think that there would one day be a counter marriage between us. 1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 13 Helen smiled..To think that a boy as fair as he..The like sweet fancies had pursued. 1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss I. ii. 9 I am afraid to think how long it is since fan-shaped caps were worn. 1906 H. Belloc Hills & Sea 30 To think that you can get to a place like that for less than a pound! 1946 M. Peake Titus Groan 337 To think that an hour earlier she had been helping to plait those locks. 1958 W. F. Jackson Knight tr. Virgil Aeneid (rev. ed.) iii. 83 My comrades..engaged in their sports just as on the wrestling-grounds of their old home, happy to think that they had safely escaped their enemies. 1997 J. Updike Toward End of Time 252 My heart leaped up gleefully, to think that Ned had come a cropper. 2003 E. M. Schwartz Land of Mountains xv. 112 I shuddered to think what had almost happened to those birds. c. With of (on, †upon): to remind oneself of, hit upon mentally, call to mind, remember. See also sense 9b. (a) intransitive. In general use. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > have in one's mind, remember [verb (intransitive)] > something specified thinka1225 OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 9 Ne ge ne geþenceað [L. recordamini] þæra fif hlafa & fif þusend manna & hu fela wyligena ge namon?] a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 59 He [sc. God] walde þet he [sc. Man] of him þohte, þet he lufede him mid þoht[e]. a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 57 Ȝef vs of þi grace þat we mowe dai ant nyht þenken o þi face..hit doþ me god when y þenke on Iesu blod. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1860 Our lauerd þan on noe thoght. c1450 (c1400) Emaré (1908) l. 951 The emperour..þowȝt on hys synne; Of hys þowȝtyr Emare, That was putte yn-to þe see. a1536 W. Tyndale Briefe Declar. Sacraments (?1548) a vj b God..promysed that thei shuld be thoght vpon before the lord yir god & saued from their enemies. 1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thynke vpon me, memento mei. a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 536 Haue you thought on A place whereto you'l go? View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. ii. 138 The most conuenient place, that I can thinke of..is Black-Fryers. View more context for this quotation 1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull in his Senses iv. 21 There's a small Concern of a Thousand Pounds, I hope you think on't, Sir. 1793 T. Pennant Lit. Life 20 I never did think on The holies who dwell near the o'erlooker of Lincoln. 1807 A. Cherry Peter the Great 14 Dear mother—such an accident! I tremble but to think on't. 1930 C. Williams War in Heaven ii. 23 He's made them into a little volume which ought to have a good sale. So, of course, I thought of you. 1950 Obituary Notices Fellows Royal Soc. 7 158 When I think of Henderson as a person and of the impression he made on me as such, two characteristics stand out. 1965 S. Suhrawardy in M. Shamsie Dragonfly in Sun (1997) 3 And I think on the days Which..I passed in the pleasant land of Shi-fo. 2003 Yale Law Jrnl. 112 985 I thought of that moment a year later. (b) intransitive. to come to think of it: to consider or reflect on the matter in question. Frequently in (when one) come(s) to think of it: when one considers or reflects on the matter; on consideration or reflection. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > [adverb] > on consideration comelOE all things seena1325 umbethoughta1500 considering1740 (when one) come(s) to think of it1759 1759 J. Fawcett Dialogues Other World iii. 27 It is indeed, says Philander, when one comes to think of it, but a kind of dismal Reflection to think evil Angels so near us, and the good on the other Hand at so great a Distance. 1838 R. H. Froude Remains II. xiv. 179 When one comes to think of it abstractedly, it seems hardly conceivable, that any person should be so blind. 1859 F. W. Faber Spiritual Conf. 180 Perhaps an abrupt transition: but not so, when you come to think of it. 1943 E. M. Almedingen Frossia ii. 59 Come to think of it, I never knew why I married Hugo. 1991 Z. Edgell In Times like These xi. 62 When you come to think of it, I really don't know too much about the issues. 2002 A. Cumming Tommy's Tale (2004) 68 Now that I come to think of it, I was overreacting a bit about the flirtus interruptus. (c) intransitive. Chiefly in negative contexts, followed by infinitive: to have it occur to one or have the presence of mind to do something. ΚΠ 1853 Leisure Hour 6 Oct. 650/2 I thought, you wouldn't have come in such weather, and I didn't think to look for you inside, anyhow. 1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve I. ix. 174 ‘What I dislike most, is George's having kept it from me.’ ‘I daresay he did not think to mention it to you,’ said Mrs. Darling, soothingly. 1931 Pop. Aviation Apr. 23/3 Did he think to throttle his motor or cut his switch? he did not. 1994 D. H. Fischer Paul Revere's Ride 79 The questions that he did not think to ask were never answered at all. d. intransitive. to think again: to reconsider a particular matter, to realize that one is mistaken, change one's mind, have second thoughts. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > change of opinion > change one's opinion [verb (intransitive)] bowa1000 forthinkc1380 to think again1493 recogitate1603 deflect1612 wheel1632 to turn round1808 to flop (over)1884 budge1930 1493 Tretyse of Loue (de Worde) sig. Gij Thenne after thynke agayn yet. 1595 Countess of Pembroke tr. R. Garnier Trag. Antonie iii. sig. D5 But thinke againe, nothing is dureable, Vertue except. 1660 J. Sadler Olbia 178 The affinity between our Life, and a Beast, in Hebrew, and in Solomon, may bid us think again. 1706 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1872) X. 165 Therefore must beg her excuse till I can retrieve one minute or two of liberty to think again. 1828 B. Barton New Year's Eve 111 Riches, health, are these thy lot?.. Hast thou neither? Think again; Blessed was e'en the widow's mite. 1850 C. Mackay Egeria 156 You've heard my answer, proud Maclaine. I will not fight you—think again. 1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married in Doctor's Dilemma 291 So youre not coming home with me. Hotchkiss..: Yes I am. Mrs. George: No. Hotchkiss: Yes. Think again. 1935 ‘C. S. Forester’ Afr. Queen ii. 35 It would blow this ole launch..to Kingdom Come. You think again, miss. 1958 P. Shore in N. Mackenzie Conviction 37 Those who imagine that the problem of the public schools will disappear..will have to think again. 1974 M. Gilbert Flash Point xiii. 109 It was a put-up job. If they think I'm going to sit down under it, they can think again. 2004 S. Quigley Run for Home (2005) xii. 214 If that arsehole thinks he can swan back here whenever the fancy takes him, he can fucking well think again. e. transitive (reflexive (with me, etc.)). With of (or †on), †simple object, or †that: = senses 7b, 7c. Cf. bethink v. II. Now archaic. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > remember [verb (reflexive)] mingOE bethink?c1225 umbethinka1300 rememberc1350 rememberc1405 record1483 remembera1522 think1556 revive1774 1556 tr. J. de Flores Histoire de Aurelio & Isabelle sig. G6 I thinckes me neuer the lesse..that you haue saide an exemple of the peacock. a1676 J. Dunton Dialogical Disc. Adonibezeck sig. A 2, in Heavenly Pastime (1685) I thought me then the blasting Fate of Vulgar men. 1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 200 I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep. a1851 D. M. Moir Poet. Wks. (1852) II. 351 I thought me of the old times,—of the halls Of ancient castles mouldering to the dust. 1890 ‘W. A. Wallace’ Only a Sister 325 I thought me at last of the vestry window. 1916 J. W. Riley Compl. Wks. III. 709 The sea was breaking at my feet, And looking out across the tide, Where placid waves and heaven meet, I thought me of the Other Side. 1937 G. D. Mitchell Backs to Wall xiv. 170 One day I thought me of Scotland, where any Australian is completely at home. 1953 P. S. Allfrey Orchid House 116 Meanwhile the wind had come up, and I thought me of how next day the banana fields would look like a battlefield of wounded soldiers. f. intransitive. to think better of: see better adj., n.¹, and adv. Phrases 10. g. intransitive. to think twice: (a) to give particularly careful consideration to something; also in the proverb think twice, then speak and variants; (b) (with about) to hesitate, change one's mind (about), decide against (an action); (c) (with about in a negative context) (not) to take notice of or worry about. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)] haltc825 flecchec1300 waverc1315 flickerc1325 wag1387 swervea1400 floghter1521 stacker1526 to be of (occasionally in) many (also divers) minds1530 wave1532 stagger1533 to hang in the wind1536 to waver as, like, with the wind1548 mammer1554 sway1563 dodge1568 erch1584 suspend1585 float1598 swag1608 hoverc1620 hesitate1623 vacillate1623 fluctuate1634 demur1641 balance1656 to be at shall I, shall I (not)1674 to stand shall I, shall I1674 to go shill-I shall-I1700 to stand at shilly-shally1700 to act, to keep (upon), the volanta1734 whiffle1737 dilly-dally1740 to be in (also of, occasionally on) two minds (also in twenty minds, in (also of) several minds, etc.)1751 oscillate1771 shilly-shally1782 dacker1817 librate1822 humdrum1825 swing1833 (to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1848 to back and fill1854 haver1866 wobble1867 shaffle1873 dicker1879 to be on the weigh-scales1886 waffle1894 to think twice1898 to teeter on the brink1902 dither1908 vagulate1918 pern1920 the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute about [verb (transitive)] stagger1555 hesitate1623 to think twice1936 1623 W. Painter Chaucer New Painted sig. B 1^v Thinke twise, then speak, the old Prouerbe doth say. 1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? vii. 277 You thinke twice before you speake, and may be demanded twice before you answer. 1728 J. Smedley Gulliveriana 273 He despis'd what was wrong, and abus'd what was right: Had a Knack to laugh luckily, never thought twice. 1825 L. M. Child Rebels xvii. 233 In the days of my youth, a single lady would have thought twice before she undertook any thing so grossly improper. 1898 G. B. Shaw Philanderer iii. 119 He thinks twice before he commits himself. 1902 E. Hubbard in Philistine May 192 Think twice before you speak and then talk to yourself. 1910 G. F. Hill in Archaeologia 62 140 Had I come across this MS. at the beginning of my search, I should have thought twice before going on. 1936 W. H. S. Smith Let. 21 Nov. in Young Man's Country (1977) ii. 43 When they find that I am neither a Blue..nor a bridge-player, they may think twice about offering the appointment to me. 1955 M. Hastings Cork & Serpent v. 67 Don't worry. Nobody here thinks twice about me. 1981 P. Salway Roman Brit. 705 This must make us think twice before attributing reasons to any funerary or religious practice from the ancient world for which we have no written evidence. 2002 L. Olsen Girl Imagined by Chance 175 When you were young, we didn't think twice about putting you in the backseat of the car and just taking off. h. intransitive. With on (adverb): to remember. Now regional (chiefly English regional (northern)). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > call to mind, recollect [verb (transitive)] i-thenchec897 bethinkOE mingOE thinkOE monelOE umbethinkc1175 to draw (also take) into (or to) memorya1275 minc1330 record1340 revert1340 remembera1382 mindc1384 monishc1384 to bring to mindc1390 remenec1390 me meanetha1400 reducec1425 to call to mind1427 gaincall1434 pense1493 remord?1507 revocate1527 revive1531 cite1549 to call back1572 recall1579 to call to mind (also memory, remembrance)1583 to call to remembrance1583 revoke1586 reverse1590 submonish1591 recover1602 recordate1603 to call up1606 to fetch up1608 reconjure1611 collect1612 remind1615 recollect1631 rememorize1632 retrieve1644 think1671 reconnoitre1729 member1823 reminisce1829 rememorate1835 recomember1852 evoke1856 updraw1879 withcall1901 access1978 1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 226 I much wonder that now thou thinkest on at last to ask me that. a1800 S. Pegge Suppl. Grose's Provinc. Gloss. (1814) Think on, think of it, as I will if I think on. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Think-on, to remember. ‘Be sure to mind to think-on’. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk at Think on Ah lay t'lad's clean forgot, he can nivver think on. 1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. at Think-on When Ah cooms te think-on, it'll be a matther o' twinty years sin. 1992 P. MacCann in First Fictions Introd. 11 210 ‘Tomorrow...Wax Museum. You and me.’ He said it firmly, pointing the handkerchief. ‘Think on.’ i. intransitive. to think back (on or to), to look back (on) reflectively, consider with hindsight. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > retrospection, reminiscence > look back, retrospect [verb (intransitive)] to look backward?c1450 to look back1529 to look backwards1598 recoila1616 retrospect1664 run1692 revert1820 reverie1832 to think back (on or to)1901 to job backwards1907 1901 ‘Zack’ Tales Dunstable Weir 231 I thought back on the days us had been together. 1960 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 June 387/1 I think back to the sixth forms of the twenties. 1965 H. Gold Man who was not with It (new ed.) iii. 29 Goombye, I thought back to him. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Oct. 1327/2 When I think back on it now, that was the best thing I could have done. 1989 D. G. Thomas Adv. Swimming 42 Now think back to the moment you first began to press, elbows high, forearms and hands pointing forward. 2003 M. Mirolla Berlin 175 I think back on the events of the previous two days. 8. To form or hold an idea in the mind with a view to action, to conceive or entertain the notion of doing something; to intend, purpose, design, mean. In early use often not distinguishable from sense 9; in later use mostly implying an unfulfilled, temporary, or incomplete intention: cf. thought n. 6a. †a. intransitive. With adverbial complement: to intend to go; to direct one's course. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)] thinkeOE bowa1000 seta1000 scritheOE minlOE turnc1175 to wend one's wayc1225 ettlec1275 hieldc1275 standc1300 to take (the) gatec1330 bear?c1335 applyc1384 aim?a1400 bend1399 hita1400 straighta1400 bounc1400 intendc1425 purposec1425 appliquec1440 stevenc1440 shape1480 make1488 steera1500 course1555 to make out1558 to make in1575 to make for ——a1593 to make forth1594 plyc1595 trend1618 tour1768 to lie up1779 head1817 loop1898 eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. ix. 101 Þæt he þara ælces ehtend wolde beon,..þe þæs wordes wære þæt from Romebyrg þohte. OE Homily: De Temporibus Anticristi (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 200 On ða wisan, þe man hors gewæpnað, þonne man to wige þencð. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14029 Þu to Rome þohtest. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 12179 [Arthur] passed Burgoyne..vnto Ostun, þider he þouht. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. l. 175 (MED) I frayned hym first fram whennes he come, And of whennes he were, and whider þat he þouȝte. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1121 Now airis he furthe with his ost, to Egist he thinkes. b. transitive. With infinitive or †object clause: to purpose or intend to do. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)] willeOE meaneOE minteOE i-muntec1000 thinkOE ettlea1200 intenta1300 meanc1330 forn-castc1374 intendc1374 ettlea1400 drive1425 proposec1425 purpose1433 attend1455 suppose1474 pretend1477 mindc1478 minda1513 pretence1565 appurpose1569 to drive at ——1574 thought to1578 hight1579 pretent1587 fore-intend1622 pre-intend1647 design1655 study1663 contemplate1794 purport1803 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)] > to do something thinkOE trow1340 intendc1374 believea1393 deemc1475 OE Beowulf (2008) 1535 Swa sceal man don, þonne he æt guðe gegan þenceð longsumne lof. OE Blickling Homilies 151 Þa Iudeas..þohton þæt hie woldan ofslean þa apostolas. a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 61 (MED) God us ȝefe in horte to fon þet we ne þenchen ufel to don. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 312 He [sc. Herod] seide he wulde him leuen on & ðoȝte he wulde him fordon. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 1181 Iulius þe emperour..þoȝte to sle al þat folc. c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 16 Ferst he þougt assaye whiche of ham louede him most and best. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 532 To the castell thai thoucht to fair. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. ii. 1 Salomon thoughte to buylde an house vnto the name of the Lorde. 1585 Abp. Whitgift in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) (Camden) 44 This Paper..which I had thowght to have delivered unto you my self yesterday. 1606 E. Scott Exact Disc. East Indians sig. E3 I ranne vp, thinking to fetch it, and to throw it into a ponde on our backe side. 1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 16 With them Joyn'd all th' Haranguers of the Throng, That thought to get Preferment by the Tongue. 1709 R. Gould Satyr against Wooing in Wks. II. 37 He..thinks to gain a Mistress by his Head. 1798 J. O'Keefe Tantara-rara i. ii, in Dramatic Wks. IV. 362 Thinking to skip up again on my perch—Whisk! I saw the coach out of sight. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere in Poems (new ed.) I. 155 You thought to break a country heart For pastime. 1878 T. Hardy Return of Native II. iv. ii. 256 He..thought he would send for his mother; and then he thought he would not. a1918 S. O'Kelly Irish Short Stories (1976) 75 He thinks to put us off by play-acting. 1989 M. Richler Solomon Gursky was Here (1990) I. vi. 36 While he was napping on a sofa, Lady Franklin, thinking to warm him, spread over his legs the British ensign she was embroidering. 2006 A. Parkin in M. Atkins & R. Osborne Poverty in Rom. World iv. 67 Asking whether a man who has taken up the garb of a Cynic thinks to impress the crowd with it. c. transitive. With simple object (usually entailing an action, frequently evil or harm). Now archaic.In Old English also with genitive of object. ΚΠ OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) v.11 And gedo þæt hy n[e m]ægen don þæt yfel þæt hy þencað and sprecað. OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxl.11 Synwyrcende, þa þe unrihtes æghwær þenceað. a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 221 Hi nefre ne bide nane niede to þan yfele rede, ne yfel to þence, ne to donne. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 306 Wo so seieð oðer god & ðenkeð iuel on his mod Fox he is & fend iwis. c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 1 (MED) Þat good þenkeþ, good may do. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4124 (MED) To stint wald he..þe foly þat his breþer thoght. a1500 (?a1400) Morte Arthur (1903) l. 1655 How in an Appelle he dede the galle And hadde it thought to syr gawayne. 1553 R. Ascham Let. 24 Mar. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 14 To whom yow never intended to think any harm. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 661 Peace is despaird, For who can think Submission? View more context for this quotation 1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci i. i. 6 While yet Manhood remained to act the thing I thought. 1858 Irish Metrop. Mag. 3 369 Poor queen! she never thought harm to any through her gentle life. 1910 W. C. Bronson tr. Battle of Maldon in Eng. Poems 46 Then one hardy in war went forward..and stepped towards the hero; so went the resolute earl to the man: each of them thought evil to the other. 1996 D. A. Olsen Music of Warao of Venezuela viii. 237 The bahanarotu begins to sing..,‘Your father thought evil... He thought evil to you.’ †d. transitive. With infinitive: to seem likely to do; only in thought to: was on the point of, nearly did ——. Cf. French penser à. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)] willeOE meaneOE minteOE i-muntec1000 thinkOE ettlea1200 intenta1300 meanc1330 forn-castc1374 intendc1374 ettlea1400 drive1425 proposec1425 purpose1433 attend1455 suppose1474 pretend1477 mindc1478 minda1513 pretence1565 appurpose1569 to drive at ——1574 thought to1578 hight1579 pretent1587 fore-intend1622 pre-intend1647 design1655 study1663 contemplate1794 purport1803 1578 N. Baxter tr. J. Calvin Lect. upon Jonah 9 The shyppe thought to be broken. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xi. 45 b A Northerly wynde..thought to haue made vs turne backe agayne. 1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 46 With so ill a will hee went, that hee had thought to haue topled his burning carre..into the sea (as Phaeton did). e. intransitive. With of and gerund or verbal noun. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > be or seem likely [verb (intransitive)] appeara1530 to have some show1556 think1579 to look like1594 to put fairc1595 had liked to1600 to show for ——1776 fare1850 show1901 1579 J. Harmar tr. J. Calvin Serm. X. Commandementes viii. f. 60^v When wee think of doing wrong, of striking and beating our neighbours, of conceiuing any hate or despite against them, wee set murder alwayes before our eyes. 1612 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. I. ii. v. 27 It is a base cowardlinesse..to thinke of running away. 1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 9 We began to think of returning. 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 216 You must not think of going till you take..dinner with us. 1812 G. Crabbe Tales xviii. 329 Each thought of taking to himself a wife. 1861 C. Kingsley Lett. (1877) II. 133 I hear you think of getting into Parliament. 1894 J. T. Fowler in St. Adamnan Vita S. Columbae Introd. 60 He thought of going to Rome and Jerusalem, and did go to Tours. 1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse i. xviii. 180 We thought of going down to the beach to watch the waves. 1960 Observer 20 Mar. 42 The British Government is thinking of releasing new weapons to Israel. 2000 Times 10 Nov. 22/7 Terry, on the other hand, is thinking of taking up ski-jumping, on the ground that he could not be any worse at it than DJ Eddie. †f. intransitive. With of and personal object: to consider for a vacancy, or esp. with a view to a marriage; to cherish the notion or intention of marrying. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > seeking marriage > seek in marriage [verb (transitive)] > consider with a view to marrying think1670 1607 G. Wilkins Miseries Inforst Mariage sig. B Scar. What thinke you of me for a Husband? Clar. Let me first know, what you think of me for a wife?] 1670 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 17 Lady Exeter..could heartily wish that you thought of her niece Lady Betty. 1759 Campaign II. iii. 18 Tho' perhaps he might never have ventured to think of Leonora, but for his mother's orders; yet once put on the scent, he would not give over the chace. 1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 230 I trust to your prudence, not to think of Flora..for you can't..marry a girl with so small a fortune. 1856 C. Patmore Espousals ii, in Angel in House II. 31 You, with your looks and handsome air, To think of Vaughan! 1899 H. James Awkward Age vi. xxi. 210 Are you ‘really’ what they call thinking of my daughter? 9. To determine on in the way of a plan or purpose; to find out or hit upon (a way to do something) by mental effort; to contrive, devise, plan, plot. Cf. to think out at Phrasal verbs; see also sense 8. a. transitive. With simple object or †infinitive. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > invention, devising > invent, devise [verb (transitive)] findeOE understand1297 devisea1300 shapec1381 warpa1387 enginec1400 weavec1420 reparel1434 studyc1530 conjecture1551 spina1575 ingeniate1592 think1599 to pattern out1601 decoct1602 smooth1603 to fetch about1611 fancy1635 plait1642 erect1646 OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxi. 10 Nellað ge gewenan welan unrihte oþþe to reaflace ræda þencean. OE Cambridge Psalter (1910) xx. 12 Quoniam declinauerunt in te mala, cogitauerunt consilium, quod non potuerunt stabilire : forþon hi onhyldon on þe yfyl hi þohton geþeaht þæt hi ne meahton gestaðulfæstan. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 1071 Brutus bethouht hym of quantyse: quantise behoues hym nedly thynk þat his enmy salle wate a blenke. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 181 b/1 Thou cursyd wretche now thynke to saue thy lyf. 1599 E. Topsell Times Lament. xxxii. 367 He doth not take away thy children or thy goods, but first he thinketh a way how to restore them againe. 1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. v. sig. I2 Let's thinke a plot. 1678 E. Howard Man of Newmarket iii. 28 Suppose I think a way to increase the merit of one in the worth of both, would this pose you? 1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. ix. 212 It was this lady's disposition to think kindnesses..and to scheme benevolence. 1906 R. Kipling Puck of Pook's Hill 11 ‘She's thought a plan,’ Dan explained. ‘She always does like that when she thinks a plan.’ 1961 A. Ginsberg Empty Mirror 55 You'd think I would have thought a plan to end the inner grind. b. intransitive. With of, †on (or †upon). ΚΠ 1481 (a1470) J. Tiptoft tr. Buonaccorso da Montemagno's Declam. Honoure in tr. Cicero De Amicicia (Caxton) sig. f3^v I gaue my sylf hoolly & fully, to the weal publyque of this cyte, And whan I had doo so, I neuir stynted to thynke vpon the weale and thencreace of the same. 1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iii. sig. Hh.iiii [He] neuer thinketh vpon other but to please her. 1590 R. Hitchcock tr. F. Sansovino Quintesence of Wit f. 33 He giues time to the enemy, not so much to thinke vpon the waies how to defend himselfe, as to make preparations to endamage and offend thee. a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. iv. 46 What shall be done with him? What is your plot? Mist. Pa. That likewise haue we thoght vpon. View more context for this quotation 1630 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 158 His Majesty..hath thought of a way. 1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris (new ed.) 49 'Tis..their Misfortune not to have Thought of an Alphabet. a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 422 She..took all the ways she could think on to ruin him. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. Ded. p. iv It was by your Desire that I first thought of such a Composition. a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) II. 121 Derham..was the first who thought upon this method of measuring the heights..by the barometer. 1856 H. B. Stowe Dred I. xxiii. 324 It is the usual instinct, in all such cases, to think of means of prolonging life. 1924 B. Tarkington Midlander xviii. 318 ‘But why don't you think of a way that would do?’ she asked..after one of her failures. ‘You're a lawyer; you ought to be able to think of something.’ 1955 G. Greene Quiet Amer. iii. i. 185 All over Saigon innocent bicycle-pumps had proven to be plastic bombs and gone off at the stroke of eleven... ‘What'll they think of next?’ people said at parties. 1997 Dazed & Confused June 50/2 I used to think of ways of having them murdered, but now I get on really well with them. c. intransitive. to think on one's feet: to react to events or arguments quickly and effectively. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)] > quickly to think on one's feet1848 1838 C. Lyell Let. 6 Sept. in C. Darwin Corr. (1986) II. 101 It is a country where, as Tom Moore justly complained, a most exaggerated importance is attached to the faculty of thinking on your legs.] 1848 Christian Examiner & Relig. Misc. July 133 Washington could not have made an oration to save his life, and Jefferson..had but small power of thinking on his feet. 1890 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 28 233 In debate ‘he thought upon his feet’. 1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xvi. 202 PS. Think on your feet, boy! 1960 Analog Sci. Fact & Fiction Oct. 73/2 Your records show that you can think on your feet. 2006 N. Reardon & T. Flynn On Camera 103 Anything that can go wrong probably will one time or another. So you and your crew will have to think on your feet. d. intransitive. to think ahead: to prepare mentally for a future event. ΚΠ 1851 Amer. Mag. Dec. 146/1 There was something so romantic in the mere consideration, that we did not ‘think ahead’, as the skipper expressed it. 1879 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 10 32 In reciting you cannot think ahead. 1925 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 19 405 One educator who has thought ahead in this direction suggests that it will require the entire surplus of the social income. 1950 P. Bowles Let. 18 Mar. in In Touch (1994) 214 Today I feel headachy from my sunburn and fever, and it irks me to think ahead more than one minute. 1974 S. Terkel Working ii. 71 Not being a status-quo-type person, I've always thought ahead enough to keep pace with what's new. 2005 Woodworker May 31/3 If your blank is distinctly marked like this one, think ahead as to how you want it to end up. 10. To take into consideration, have regard to. †a. transitive. With simple object. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > attention > take notice of, heed [verb (transitive)] > take into account, consider thinka1225 reckona1375 aima1382 allowa1382 considerc1385 accounta1393 regard1512 impute1532 respect1548 to consider of1569 compute1604 to consult with1639 to take into (the) account1660 consult1682 consult for1814 to factor in1964 a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 15 (MED) Þet we sculden þenchen nu ȝef we weren iseli. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. iii. 6 In alle thi weies thenc [a1425 L.V. thenke thou on] hym. a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 32 (MED) Þenke no þinge but þi soule helþe; charge onely þo þinges þat longiþ to þi soule. b. intransitive. With of, †on (or †upon). ΚΠ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 181 To þinke [c1400 Tiber. þengke] on þe comyn profit. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10435 (MED) Qui ne wil þou on þi seluen thinc, þat þou wil noiþer ete ne drinc? a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 2652 Whyles he lyffes..Thynk he suld ay of his lyfes hende. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 65 Wolde God þat preelatis wolde þenke on þis now. ?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew vii. f. cij^v If thou repent..he promyseth that he will not thynke on thy synnes. 1639 R. Ward Animadversions of Warre ii. xv. ii. 2 The things necessary to be thought upon by a Generall after his Army is leavied, is provision necessary for the same. a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 206 Did they ever think of that, that make away the Inheritance of God's Holy Tribe in an Out-sale? 1735 S. Johnson tr. J. Lobo Voy. Abyssinia 112 Nothing was thought of, but how to save ourselves, and the little Goods we had. 1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. xi. 261 ‘That is the last matter to be thought on,’ said Hartley. 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 35 If..we begin by thinking of ourselves first, we are easily led on to think of others. 1931 T. F. Powys Unclay (1974) i. 4 He had his own character to think of—his own honour. 1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill xi. 351 ‘Don't bandy words in public, love,’ Adam murmured. ‘Think of the good example your grandfather always sets you.’ 1993 H. Liyi & C. A. Chik Mr. China's Son xiii. 178 When something important happens you must consider it from all sides. Think of the children, think of the poor old man, think of me, your husband. III. With emphasis on an opinion, judgement, or expectation resulting from the action. 11. a. To hold as an opinion, to believe, judge, consider. Usually: to believe without any great assurance, to regard as likely, to have the idea, to suppose; in reference to a future event: to expect (coinciding partly in meaning with sense 12). (a) transitive. With object clause (or pronoun substitute). I should think ——: introducing emphatic assent (cf. I should think so at sense 11b(c)).I thought as much: see as adv. and conj. Phrases 4b. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > hold an opinion, opine [verb (intransitive)] thinkOE letc1200 understand1297 meana1398 esteem1576 intend?1577 opinionate1653 opine1655 OE Beowulf (2008) 691 Nænig heora þohte, þæt he þanon scolde eft eardlufan æfre gesecean. OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxix. 256 Nu ðencað [lOE Vesp. D.xiv þænceð] sume men þæt ða wif wæron gesælige, þæt hi swilcne cuman underfengon. a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 67 (MED) Þos ilke bode, wisliche þing, of oðre is ful festning. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 240 (MED) He þoȝte þet hit were grat þing to by monek, and be þo encheysoun he becom monek. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 950 Þou sal thinc þou liues to lang. c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 322 Thanne thoghten they it was the beste reed To lede hem bothe to the Iuge agayn. 1450 W. Lomnor in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 36 He thowght he was desseyuyd. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clxx Who would haue thought that our Uncle of Englande, would haue made warre on vs? 1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 38 Fresh water, some say brought thither by art, I rather think from a naturall fountain. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 40 Canst thou remember..? I doe not thinke thou canst. View more context for this quotation 1705 N. Tate tr. A. Cowley Of Plants iv, in A. Cowley Wks. (1711) III. 395 The Sun-Flow'r, thinking 'twas for him foul Shame To nap by Day-light, strove t' excuse the Blame. 1798 W. Wordsworth Female Vagrant in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 79 And oft, robb'd of my perfect mind, I thought At last my feet a resting-place had found. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 15 It was thought that the flocks, thus separated from the evil shepherds, would soon return to the true fold. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 94 I think that I understand him. 1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley II. xxxvi. 300 The womenkind always do think that. 1894 A. Jessopp Random Roaming iv. 160 Fish? I should think there was fish! There was fish enough to come to at least £15 of our money. 1944 L. P. Hartley Shrimp & Anemone iv. 41 ‘Do you know..Nancy Steptoe?’ ‘I should think I did.’ 1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk iii. 128 I let you continue to think the child was yours. 1975 B. Donoughue Diary 5 Mar. in Downing St. Diary (2005) xi. 323 Interestingly, Janet Hewlett-Davies said that ‘Marcia has shot her bolt.’ I wonder what led her to think that. 2007 D. A. Weintraub Is Pluto a Planet? xiii. 183 Some people see this as a demotion of Pluto from planet-hood. I think that it can reasonably be portrayed as a promotion. (b) transitive. colloquial. who do you think?, what do you think?: used, esp. parenthetically, to introduce a surprising statement. ΚΠ 1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes cxxxiii, in Wks. I. 817 But 'mong'st these Tiberts, who do'you thinke there was? Old Bankes the iuggler. 1697 J. Vanbrugh Æsop: 2nd Pt. (ed. 2) 4 I sent him a Challenge; and what do you think his Answer was——he sent me Word I was a Scoundrel Son of a Whore. 1732 T. Sheridan in Wks. Dr. J. Swift (1766) XVII. 45 I am resolved to take some rubrick, although the doctors advise me to drink burgomy. And what do you think? when I went to my cellar for a flask, I found that my servants had imbellished it all. 1790 Tom Tit's Song Bk. There was an old woman, And what do you think, She lived upon nothing, But victuals and drink. 1840 F. M. Trollope Life & Adventures Michael Armstrong xxiv. 274 I saw a flash of light through the narrow slip,..and what do you think it showed me? Crippled as I was, I managed to scramble high enough to peep,..and what do you think I saw? 1869 W. G. Simms Voltmeier in Illuminated Western World 24 July 6/3 I let my ‘shady-glim’ shine for a minute over his face, and what do you think! Why, there was the grand young gentleman, changed all at ons't into the old one. 1933 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Cloud Howe iii. 170 Once the servant went in of a morning and what do you think he saw in the bed? Young Mr Mowat with a quean on each side. 2003 A. Bromfield tr. B. Akunin Winter Queen (2004) v. 63 We threw the dice, and what do you think? My turn again! He had two sixes, and I threw a two, I swear it. (c) transitive. colloquial. I don't think: used after an ironical statement to indicate that the reverse is intended. that's what you think (with stress on you): a formulaic expression of emphatic, sometimes scornful, disagreement. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > [phrase] not so fasta1593 I beg your pardon1676 I (should) think not1847 that's what you think1934 1827 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1952) X. 708 A nice woman I don't think. 1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxvii. 412 ‘You're a amiably-disposed young man, Sir, I don't think,’ resumed Mr. Weller, in a tone of moral reproof. 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. ii. 258 Hark how he swears, Tom. Nicely brought-up young man, ain't he, I don't think. 1911 ‘K. Howard’ Cheerful Knave xvi Breakfast? Yer a credit to yer calling, I don't think. 1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra ii. 31 ‘I can handle that.’ ‘That's what you think.’ 1973 P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog xi. 148 ‘We're going to have the pleasure of your company for several days at least.’ ‘That's what you think.’ 2002 R. Gervais & S. Merchant Office: Scripts 1st Ser. Episode 1. 25 Thought I'd go out again tonight with Oggy. That'd be a quiet night in the library—not! I don't think! b. To hold views of the nature specified or indicated by context. (a) intransitive. With adverbial. †to think from: to dissent from, to disagree with (obsolete rare). †to think with: to be of the same opinion as (obsolete).to think better of: see better adj., n.¹, and adv. Phrases 10; great minds think alike: see mind n.¹ 21c. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > dissent or disagree [verb (intransitive)] disagree?1521 misagree1530 differ1563 square1600 to think from1625 dissent1654 non-concur1836 the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > agree with [verb (transitive)] to go ineOE cordc1380 consentc1386 covin1393 condescend1477 agree1481 correspond1545 concur1590 to fall in1602 suffrage1614 to hit it1634 colour1639 to take with ——1646 to be with1648 to fall into ——1668 to run in1688 to think with1688 meet1694 coincide1705 to go in1713 to say ditto to1775 to see with ——1802 sympathize1828 a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 149 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 169 (MED) Al he walde and oðerluker don and oðerluker þenchen Wenne he bi-þohte on helle fur. 1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thyncke contrarye, absentio, is. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxv^v He sayd he spake as he thought. 1625 F. Markham Bk. Honour i. vi. 22 The Holy Ghost (from whose rule we dare not thinke) mentioneth but the two Sonnes. 1688 J. Norris Theory & Regulation Love ii. ii. 76 An old Rule, that we may talk with the Many, but must think with the Few. c1795 S. Parr Wks. (1828) VII. 415 I think with the lady in Theocritus, that the Dorians have a right to Dorize. 1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) ii. i. 50 I did not Think with him, but would not oppose the thought. 1877 W. Smith & H. Wace Dict. Christian Biogr. I. at Atticus Those who thought with him found in him a warm friend. 1952 C. MacKenzie Rival Monster vi. 73 ‘Oh, well, if we all thought alike it would be a dull world,’ said Mrs Odd. 1997 A. Sivanandan When Memory Dies ii. i. 128 My father must have been thinking on the same lines, because he was now too difficult to persuade. (b) intransitive. Parenthetic with as, adding a comment to a statement or fact. ΚΠ OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1076 Rogcer ferde west to his eorldome, & gaderade his folc þan cyngce to unþearfe—he þohte—ac hit wearð heom seolfan to mycclan hearme.] a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 215 (MED) Yit hadde he bot o mannes del Toward himself, so as I thinke, Of clothinge and of mete and drinke. a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 1959 (MED) Heuy smylle is not, as clerkis thinke, The myddille odour, but only the las stynke. 1592 F. Moryson Let. in Itinerary (1617) i. 25 Each of vs went to our taske, he (as I thought) to goe, I to sleepe. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. vii. lvi. 188 Thrason was the first builder of towne walls: of towers and fortresses, the Cyclopes, as Aristotle thinketh. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. i. vii. 116 A Country, governed, as I thought, by very different Maxims from those in Europe. 1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §266 We had got (as we thought) compleatly moored upon the 13th of May. 1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 657/2 I felt, as I thought, a hand claming softly over the bed-clothes. 1863 A. Gray Let. 27 Jan. in C. Darwin Corr. (1999) XI. 91 It is clear enough that (as I thought at first) Derivation of species is to be the word. 1920 Science 28 May 529/2 The Barosaurus has, as Marsh thought, some resemblance to Diplodocus. 2007 A. Shreve Body Surfing 288 Was it a deliberately boorish gesture, as she once thought, or merely a holdover from exuberant teenage behavior? (c) intransitive. to think so: to be of the opinion previously stated. I should think so: introducing emphatic assent: certainly, assuredly, indeed. Also with substitute for negative clause, I (should) think not. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > [phrase] not so fasta1593 I beg your pardon1676 I (should) think not1847 that's what you think1934 1530 J. Rastell New Bk. Purgatory iii. v. sig. f z Gyngemyn. Than thus is not some syn & offence that a man commytteth somtyme more and somtyme lesse. Comyn. I thynke so. 1608 Yorkshire Trag. sig. B3 I should think so mistris. a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. vii. 62 I feare me it will make me scandaliz'd. Luc. If you thinke so, then stay at home. View more context for this quotation 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Sept. (1965) I. 444 I pray God I may think so for the rest of my Life. 1795 G. Colman New Hay at Old Market i. 11 Daggerwood. This handkerchief, Did an Egyptian to my mother give. Fustian. Faith, I should think so. 1816 Times 7 Sept. 2/3 Should you not think that number of public-houses and dram-shops most intolerably large?—I should think it very prejudicial. And much beyond the necessary call?—I should think so. 1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey x. 152 ‘I mean, I think no worse of him than I did before.’ ‘No worse! I should think not indeed—quite the contrary! Is he not greatly improved?’ 1903 G. B. Shaw Man & Superman iv. 167 Promise me that you wont. Violet (very decidedly) I should think not indeed. 1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know iii. 48 Even the birds ought to have a ‘square deal’ in free America: don't you think so? 1995 D. McLean Bunker Man 159 Both..assured me they'd deal with both matters straight away. I should think so too, said Rob. 2000 W. Self How Dead Live (2001) viii. 195 Could I make them better and more considerate lovers, fathers, friends? I think not. My shyster father—my sadistic mother? 12. To believe or consider something to be possible or likely; to suspect; to expect, anticipate. a. transitive. With infinitive. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)] weenOE weenc1000 thinklOE lookc1225 hopec1330 trusta1387 wait onc1390 supposea1393 to wait after ——1393 to look after ——c1400 thinkc1480 attend1483 suppone1490 expect1535 to expect for1538 aspect1548 respect1549 look1560 ween1589 attend1591 propose1594 await1608 to presume on, upon, or of1608 to look forwards1637 prospect1652 to look for ——a1677 augur1678 anticipate1749 to look to ——1782 spect1839 contemplate1841–8 to look forward1848 eye1979 lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xxiv. 53 Þara [sc. soþena gesælða] wilniað ealle deaðlice men to begitanne, þeah hi ðurh mislice wegas ðencan to cumanne. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 393 If mikel is sorge and more care, Adam and eue it wite ful gare... On sundri ðhenken he to ben And neiðere on oðer sen. a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 549 He thoght to be wele on hys way, Or it war passed þe thryd day. ?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xxiii. sig. C^v Howe manye haue be deceyued thinkynge to lyue longe & sodenly haue decessed. 1557 Bible (Whittingham) Acts xxiv (contents) Felix gropeth him, thinking to haue a bribe. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 220 I neuer thought to heare you speake againe. View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 429 Cromwel, I did not thinke to shed a teare In all my Miseries. View more context for this quotation 1765 G. Colman tr. Terence Step-mother iv. vi, in tr. Terence Comedies 490 And do you think To find a woman without any fault? 1819 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) III. 392 I thought to have seen you ere this. 1856 G. H. Boker Plays & Poems (1883) II. ii. ii. 29 I thought to hear some folly, but your style Out-fools conceit! 1924 A. D. H. Smith Porto Bello Gold xvi. 220 Gut me if I thought to find such skulkers in my crew! 1961 H. Calisher False Entry i. ii. 15 ‘If there were only a little east in the wind!’ said my mother faintly. ‘Never thought to hear myself say that!’ she added quickly. 2002 S. Waters Fingersmith iii. 83 I am not sure what I thought to find there. b. transitive. With simple object. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)] weenOE weenc1000 thinklOE lookc1225 hopec1330 trusta1387 wait onc1390 supposea1393 to wait after ——1393 to look after ——c1400 thinkc1480 attend1483 suppone1490 expect1535 to expect for1538 aspect1548 respect1549 look1560 ween1589 attend1591 propose1594 await1608 to presume on, upon, or of1608 to look forwards1637 prospect1652 to look for ——a1677 augur1678 anticipate1749 to look to ——1782 spect1839 contemplate1841–8 to look forward1848 eye1979 the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > hold an opinion [verb (transitive)] ween971 holda1300 believec1325 judgec1325 feelc1380 supposea1387 conceivea1425 take1429 opinea1475 thinkc1480 supponea1500 esteem1507 opinion1555 intend?1577 meditate1585 opinionate1599 opiniate1624 arbitrate1637 apprehend1639 state1671 calculate1805 consider1830 fink1888 c1480 (a1400) St. James Less l. 339 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 170 The lele men..Thinkand na ewil, vent to the hill. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 11837 Priam..& his prise knightes, Sweryn all swiftly, & no swyke thoghtyn. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 344 I saw't not, thought it not, it harm'd not me. View more context for this quotation 1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 56 Well-meaners think no Harm. 1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 24 He thinking no harm agreed. 1859 C. Mackay Coll. Songs 214 Laugh, man! think no evil, Fools alone look always wise. 1886 F. H. Burnett Little Ld. Fauntleroy ix. 178 The frank, true, kindly nature, the affectionate trustfulness which could never think evil. 1953 Amer. Lit. 25 195 The red-haired, ‘beak nosed’ hero, willing to think evil of his ancestress to satisfy his ‘snobbish little soul’. 2007 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 9 June 1 My view's a little slanted, but I think no harm, no foul. c. intransitive. With of, †on (†upon), †to. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (intransitive)] hope1303 think1484 expect1779 1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) xl. 63 She..answerd withoute remembryng her ne thynkyng to no harme. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iv. 233 When that our princely father..Blest his three sonnes.., He little thought of this deuided friendship. View more context for this quotation 1650 R. Gentilis tr. V. Malvezzi Considerations Lives Alcibiades & Corialanus 234 He stumbles at some evill which hee did not think upon. 1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 98 He may meet with both, when he the least thinks on't. 1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise 147 Staring out into the night Where yet the woods thought not of light. 1906 W. Churchill Coniston i. iv. 36 ‘Haven't I seen her in Brampton?’ inquired Mr. Worthington, little thinking of the consequences of the question. 1957 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 20 632 The Emperor,..allowing time to pass without a vendetta, finally, when they were least thinking of it..killed them. 2000 A. Farnsworth-Alvear Dulcinea in Factory vi. 200 You'd be on the night shift, and when you were least thinking of it the priest would be right there. d. intransitive. With for (†of, †on), in comparisons after as (†so) or than, with the preposition at the end of the clause. Cf. to look for —— at look v. Phrasal verbs 2. Now regional. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > suppose, surmise [verb (intransitive)] understandc1000 movea1325 thinka1533 imagine1579 wend1581 s'pose1632 surmise1820 a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxii. sig. Oi I thinke ye should not reioyse her so easily as ye thynke of. 1566 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce f. 69^v They shall haue of God their iust punishment, and soner than they thinke for. a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 159 Oh sir, the conceit is deeper then you think for. 1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 256 A godly servant is a greater blessing then we think on. 1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins I. xiii. 135 I have not made so bad a Hand of my Time as I thought for. 1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. iii. 58 They hear farther than you think of. 1852 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel IV. xii. xiv. 96 It is of more importance to him than I even thought for. 1894 G. Moore Esther Waters xix. 145 I don't say I'm not often sorry for them poor little dears, but they takes less notice than you'd think for. a1927 J. Rodker Poems & Adolphe 1920 (1996) 120 She was thinner than he had thought for. 2002 C. C. Davidson Time for Everything xix. 319 She must have dozed longer then she had thought for after studying Marc's booklet. 13. With complement. a. (a) transitive. With or without to be: to believe, consider, or suppose (someone or something) to be; to look upon as.†Also (quot. a1616¹) with for (cf. to take for —— at take v. Phrasal verbs 2, and sense 12d). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > accept as true, believe [verb (transitive)] ylevec888 leve971 ween971 i-weneOE takec1175 trowc1175 truth?c1250 thinka1275 believec1300 trustc1325 hold1340 trist1340 to give (one's) faith to (also unto)c1405 accept?c1430 admitc1449 credencea1529 to take a person at his (also her) word1535 credit1547 faith1576 to take a person's word1576 receive1581 creed1596 understand1751 Adam and Eve1925 buy1926 eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. vi. 95 Þæt hiora gerisna nære þæt hie swa heane hie geþohten þæt hi heora gelican wurden.] a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 76 (MED) Him sal ben wone no-þing of is wille, wo him her on worolde wrþin þenket [a1300 Jesus Oxf. wrþie þencheþ]. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12071 For he heom þuhte [c1300 Otho wiste] wurðe. a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 4250 He sal thynk hym loverd of alle. c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 2 (MED) More he leuys in morgage His hert without disdayne of corage, Not to refuse in thenkyng it bondage. a1470 in C. Innes & P. Chalmers Liber S. Thome de Aberbrothoc (1856) II. 107 Thynkand it onkyndle tyll thole ane nominatioun of lardschipe of sic ane man. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. vii They were thought to haue been confederates. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II v. ii. 26 Thinking his prattle to be tedious. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. v. 57 If..not yet thou know'st me, and..dost not thinke me for the man I am. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 120 May I be bold To thinke these spirits? View more context for this quotation 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxv. 135 Some, that have the ambition to be thought eloquent. 1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) vi. 205 Think nought a trifle, tho' it small appear. 1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 202 Striving their ghastly malady to cheer, By thinking it a thing of yes and no, That housewives talk of. 1834 G. P. R. James John Marston Hall vii Lord Masterton thought himself bound to act the part of an elder brother. 1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 190 You think that only a lover's fancy. 1910 A. Bierce Coll. Wks. V. 287 No doubt you think yourself as good As if in mail of black you proudly stood. 1980 Classical Q. New Ser. 30 371 I follow Staveley in thinking it at least more likely that they presented themselves for the censorship as a team. 2005 Metro 14 Feb. (London ed.) 30/4 Thirty years ago, specialists in baroque music were thought to be weirdy-beardy types who wore nettle jumpers and drank real ale. (b) transitive. With following infinitive other than to be: to suppose (someone or something) to do something. Chiefly, and now only, in passive. ΚΠ 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection Pref. sig. Aii Ioynynge also therto the gostly exercise and experience of holy fathers, as I thought them to make most for my purpose. 1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus i. f. 14 Which..myght be thought to dannce Anticke verye properlye. 1588 S. Bredwell Rasing Found. Brownisme 34 Here he thinking me to lie wide open, runneth violently vpon me..to dispatch mee at a blowe. 1605 J. Sylvester in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. Index sig. xx7^v/2 Nepenthe, an herbe which being steeped in wine, is thought to expell sadnesse. 1757 E. M. da Costa Nat. Hist. Fossils 6 On account of its appearance and ponderousness Boccone thinks it to contain metalline particles. 1772 B. Franklin Let. 6 Feb. in W. B. Willcox Papers of Benjamin Franklin (1975) XIX 71 The Dry Gripes are thought to proceed always from Lead taken..into the Body. 1853 Life Blessed Paul of Cross (1860) i. xi. 122 The ruins of what is thought to have been the palace of the emperor Sergius Galba. 1929 G. P. Merrill Minerals from Earth & Sky ii. iv. 243 The name garnet, from granatum, a pomegranate, whose seed the crystals are thought to resemble. 2015 J. Warren Nature of Crops v. 91 It [sc. saffron] was thought to cure insomnia, colds and asthma. †b. intransitive. to think long: to grow weary with waiting; to weary, to be impatient; to long, yearn. Const. for, to (do something); (also) till (something happens). Obsolete (regional in later use).A development of the earlier to think long (think v.¹ 3) ‘to seem or appear long (to)’, by substituting the nominative for the (uninflected) dative. In quot. a1425 to think long by may = to weary of, or ‘þat Crist þouȝte longe’ may be = that to Christ seemed long (cf. ‘that him thoughte long’). ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > impatience > be impatient [verb (intransitive)] to think longc1300 one's fingers are all thumbs1546 bate1599 to sit upon hot cockles1607 to be upon the nettle (also in a nettle)1723 to champ at (also on) the bit1832 to chafe at the bit1873 the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > long or yearn [verb (intransitive)] thirstc893 forlongc1175 longc1225 alonga1393 greena1400 suspirec1450 earnc1460 to think long?1461 sigh1549 groanc1560 hank1589 twitter1616 linger1630 hanker1642 to hang a nose1655 hangc1672 yammer1705 yen1919 c1300 St. Edward Elder (Laud) l. 50 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 48 (MED) Þis holie man þouȝte longue are he at is broþur were. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 59 Þe Jewis þouȝten þat Crist þouȝte longe bi his liif, and wolde..slee himsilf. ?1461 M. Paston in Paston Lett. (1971) i. 277 I thynk ryth longe tyll I haue some god tydyngys fro yow. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xciii. 303 My wyfe..thynkethe longe for my comynge. 1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. Sonn. xviii These hungry wormes thinke longe for their repast. 1631 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. 75 Behold I come;..think not long. I shall be with you at once. 1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Exod. x. 3) 32 God think's long of the time that men misspend..in wicked courses. 1788 C. Reeve Exiles I. 195 We think long till we see you. 1895 W. C. Fraser Whaups of Durley xi. 152 Ye maunna bide lang away, for I'll be thinkin' lang till I see ye again. 1906 N. Hopper Sel. Poems II. 8 Did you think long as I thought long before our hands might meet. 1922 D. Byrne Wind Bloweth v. vii. 205 Sometimes I think long until I get back to Sweden. c. intransitive. With complement immediately following (with ellipsis of object it). Also transitive with infinitive or object clause after the complement. Now chiefly in to think fit (see fit adj. 2b), to think proper. ΚΠ a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 14096 Martha þuȝt il ho [sc. Mary] ne help hir walde. c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 3426 (MED) Wherfore I rede, if ȝe thenke right, That we sende som messanger To Delos. a1500 tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy (Cambr.) l. 190 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 87 Whan he þought tyme to daunce with hir. c1500 Debate Carpenter's Tools in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1987) 38 460 (MED) All þe ȝerne þat I may spyne, To spend at ale he thinkys no syne. 1560 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 51 As the said Edmunde..shall thinke behoofefull & expedient. 1611 Bible (King James) 2 Macc. iv. 19 Which..the bearers therof thought fit not to bestow vpon the sacrifice. View more context for this quotation 1692 T. P. Blount Ess. 37 I thought good to go to the Philosophers. 1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. III. lxi. 322 Cromwell thought fit to indulge a new fancy. 1831 W. Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. The little narrative which I thought proper to put forth in October, 1827. 1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 477 The Athenians have thought fit to condemn me. 1902 Times 18 Sept. 3/4 The views which M. Pelletan has thought proper to proclaim from the house-tops. 1958 Phylon Q. 19 333 Mrs. Stowe illustrated the behavior Calvinists thought proper to Christians, abased before the throne of God. 1995 M. Coren Conan Doyle (1996) viii. 187 It was cathartic and enjoyable for him to let off steam and pronounce on any subject he thought fit, from horse-racing to photography. †d. transitive. In passive (usually with non-referential it as subject) with complement: to seem, appear (to a person); = think v.¹; also with ellipsis of the complement: to seem good. Obsolete.Perhaps originally for think v.¹: ‘it thinks (= appears) to X’ being changed to ‘it is thought to X’; hence the retention of to. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > have (specific) appearance [verb (intransitive)] > seem thinkeOE beseem?c1225 semblec1325 show1340 supposea1393 appeara1425 resemble?a1425 think1425 seem1570 'pear1851 1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 290/2 Hit is thoght to the Kyng..that there is provision. 1427 Rolls of Parl. 326/2 Alleggyng..such groundes..as it was þought to youre discretion. c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) 88 To good pepill no laboure scholde be thought to harde. 1558 Queen Mary I in J. M. Stone Life (1901) 512 As to hys godly wysdome shall be thowght mete and convenyent. 1577 J. Knewstub Confut. Heresies (1579) 86 It was thought good vnto almighty God, that the Scriptures shoulde be penned. 1656 J. Fowler Hist. Troubles Suethland & Poland 155 It was thought good that his Lordship with the Electoralls..should repaire by course..to the Parties Commissioners of each side. †e. transitive. to think (it) much: (a) to be reluctant or shy, hesitate to do something, to have an objection (also with of); (b) to regard it as an important or serious matter to do, if, or that; (c) to be surprised, wonder that. See also much pron. and n. 1c, and cf. sense 14. Obsolete.Perhaps altered from ‘it thinks me much’ (think v.¹). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > attach importance to reckOE to make (do, give, take, have, let, kythe, set) force1303 chargea1425 to think (it) much1548 reckon1576 the mind > will > wish or inclination > unwillingness > be unwilling [verb (intransitive)] nillOE loathea1200 to make it tough1297 forthinka1300 reckc1300 ruea1400 to make (it) strangec1405 to make strangenessc1407 stick1418 resistc1425 to make (it) strange?1456 steek1478 tarrowc1480 doubt1483 sunyie1488 to make (it) nice1530 stay1533 shentc1540 to make courtesy (at)1542 to make it scrupulous1548 to think (it) much1548 to make dainty of (anything)1555 to lie aback1560 stand1563 steek1573 to hang back1581 erch1584 to make doubt1586 to hang the groin1587 to make scruple (also a, no, etc., scruple)1589 yearn1597 to hang the winga1601 to make squeamish1611 smay1632 bogglea1638 to hang off1641 waver1643 reluct1648 shy1650 reluctate1655 stickle1656 scruple1660 to make boggle1667 revere1689 begrudge1690 to have scruples1719 stopc1738 bitch1777 reprobate1779 crane1823 disincline1885 the mind > language > statement > objection > object [verb (transitive)] strivea1400 objectc1443 repugna1513 controlc1525 to lay something in a person's light1530 pass1534 take1542 to think (it) much1548 challenge?1577 except1577 except1597 to formalize upon1597 formalize1599 scruple1627 demur1827 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > attach importance to > regard as great or serious to think (it) much1548 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > wonder, be astonished [phrase] to think wonder971 I have selcoutha1250 marvela1393 to have wondera1400 to have marvela1500 to give oneself wonderc1500 bewondereda1586 to think it wondera1586 estrange1658 to think (it) much1669 flabberdegasky1822 the mind boggles1899 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > happen or move unexpectedly [verb (intransitive)] > feel surprised to think wonder (also ferly)lOE to have wondera1400 admirec1429 startle1562 to think (it) strange of (or concerning)1585 to come short?1611 strange1639 to think (it) much1669 admirize1702 to go (all) hot and cold1845 to take to1862 surprise1943 not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1961 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. xviii. f. lxxv The more vnworthy we be to obteyne pardone eyther of our neyghboure, or of god..yf we thynke it muche to pardon our brother offendyng muche lesse. 1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. B.vii He must..thinke not much his very frende in trifles to offende. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 301 They thought it much if they coulde bring the French King..in safetie to Burdeaux. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 253 Thou..thinkst it much to tread y^e Ooze Of the salt deepe. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 219 He..thought not much to cloath his Enemies. View more context for this quotation 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 465 Mr. Grey nor Mr. Treasurer will not think much of my sharing with them. 1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Wife of Bathe's Tale in Fables 482 The Ladies..thought it much a Man should die for Love. And with their Mistress join'd in close Debate. 1712 T. Ellwood Davideis v. ii . 267 He straitway came, Not thinking much to Parley with a Dame. 1793 H. Boyd Poems 570 Well she lov'd the Pastor's hallow'd trade, Nor thought it much, to raise with gentle hand, The lamb, deserted in the thorny glade. 1821 T. G. Wainewright Ess. & Crit. (1880) 194 Our historical wood-cutters have thought it much to follow..those lines ready-pencilled by the inventor on the blocks. 1873 S. Sweetser Ministry we Need xiii. 110 The world may not think it much to bury one's life out of sight. 1881 G. Meredith Tragic Comedians II. viii. 132 Can she think it much to have married that drab-coloured unit? 14. To have a particular (good, bad, or other) opinion of a person or thing; to value or esteem something (highly or otherwise). With of (†by, †at, regional to, on) a person or thing. a. transitive. With quantifier or equivalent noun phrase as object.to think small beer of: see small beer n. 2c; to think the world of: see world n. Phrases 30. ΚΠ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. li. 853 If a man..bereþ þe stone..he may anon tellen what oþer men þinken of him. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xii. 298 ‘What thynke you by hym?’ ‘Certes,’ sayd rowlande, ‘reynawd is a sage knyght.’ 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Hag. ii. A But what thinke ye now by it? a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. i. 80 What doth he thinke of vs? View more context for this quotation 1640 Duke of Newcastle Country Captaine ii. i Betweene, us too, what thinke you of a wench? Court. Nothinge. 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 104. ⁋1 To be negligent of what any one thinks of you, does not only shew you arrogant but abandoned. 1813 Sketches of Character (ed. 2) I. 55 I didn't think much of her. 1841 R. W. Hamilton Nugæ Lit. 322 ‘To’ is substituted for of [in the Yorkshire dialect]: ‘What do you think to such a thing, or man?’ 1854 C. M. Yonge Cameos xxx, in Monthly Packet Sept. 176 The barons..thought little of the thunders of the Pope. 1896 Bulletin (Sydney) 24 Oct. (Red Page) His father thought a lot of Henry; he used to call him a tiger for work. 1938 A. Christie Appointment with Death v. 37 Her husband thought a lot of her and adopted her judgment on almost every point. 1975 S. Clegg Power, Rule, & Domination vii. 112 If you go back to your University, and they say to you ‘What do you think to that Cashier on site?’, and you say, ‘Oh, he's a bit of a dosser.’ 1978 R. Hill Pinch of Snuff ix. 85 I've known Charlie for years. I asked what he thought on it. 2005 Independent 19 Jan. 10/3 I'm not happy with the Government, but I don't think much of this mob either. b. intransitive. With adverbial, as badly, poorly, highly, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > estimate [verb (intransitive)] deemc1384 to make much (also little, nothing, too much, etc.) of (or on)c1395 counta1400 thinka1400 reputatec1450 reckon1567 weigh1573 repute1579 esteem1583 censure1592 take stock1736 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 14669 Þai loked on him & loured grim. & heþeli þai þuȝt be him. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) xl. f. 74 She is wel thought on in Rome. 1576 R. Peterson tr. G. della Casa Galateo 22 Eache man desireth to bee well thought of. 1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 111/1 To constraine vs to thinke better on our selues. a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iv. ii. 55 I thinke nobly of the soule. View more context for this quotation 1778 Encycl. Brit. III. 1604/1 The many specimens of profit to be made by the Canadian trade, at last induced the public to think favourably of it. 1850 E. C. Gaskell Lizzie Leigh in Househ. Words 1 34/2 But you mun not think badly of Will. 1909 Musical Times 50 590/2 Brahms evidently thought highly of the native music of his country. 1945 N. Streatfeild Saplings xliv. 215 A family may think poorly of their home, they may admit to each other its discomforts. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top xiii. 129 We'll call it a day... Don't think badly of me. 1976 K. Amis Lett. (2000) 794 P-W R was much tickled..to hear that I thought highly of his playing. 1996 T. Parker Violence of our Lives i. 27 I was always well behaved: good at school, worked hard,..and well thought of by all my teachers too. c. transitive. to think nothing of: (a) to have a very low opinion of, set no value upon, regard as worthless; (b) to make light of, make no difficulty or scruple about (cf. to make nothing of at make v.¹ 29a); think nothing of it: (imperative) used to deprecate proffered thanks or apology. to think no more of..than: to have the same (usually dismissive) attitude towards..as. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > easiness > find no difficulty in [verb (transitive)] to make no strength of?c1225 strengthc1225 to make nothing to1675 to make nothing1688 to make much (also little, nothing, too much, etc.) of (or on)1711 to think nothing of1802 the mind > emotion > gratitude > expressions of thanks [phrase] > dismissal of thanks (it is) my pleasure1950 think nothing of it1950 you are (or you're) welcome1960 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccxcix. f. cclxxx Nor thynke nothynge, of that ye haue lefte behynde you. 1569 W. Samuel Abridgem. Olde Test.: Isa. xliii. sig. S.vi Alone I wil thy foes confound, and eke also remit: Thy sin my self of my good wil, and think no more of it. 1686 J. Gother Papist Mis-represented (new ed.) 3 Whenas I never gave that Character out for a Church of England Character of Popery , thought nothing of her Rule or Judgement nor dreamt of concerning her. 1721 C. Cibber Refusal ii. 24 Think no more of him than he thinks of you, and I'll answer for your Cure. 1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) 222 He was a ree-brained divell, but thought nothing of it, as all the British are so when they come abroad. 1802 T. Beddoes Hygëia II. viii. 76 A pint of wine in two hours is nothing thought of. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table v The Lady thanked him..but said she thought nothing of the walk. 1888 Harper's Mag. Mar. 565/2 The Western people..think no more of throwing down a railroad..than a conservative Easterner does of taking an unaccustomed walk across country. 1914 C. H. S. Matthews Bill 132 He was far from being honest, and would think no more of ‘shaking’ a horse, if he happened to want one, than of having his breakfast. 1950 L. Kaufman Jubel's Children xxi. 259 Think nothing of it. My pleasure. 1971 D. Wallis Bad Luck Girl i. 13 Down the Pacific coast they think no more of selling you a fix than pouring you a pisco. 1980 F. Olbrich Desouza in Stardust iv. 41 ‘Thank you for giving up so much of your time, Mr. Chiknis.’ ‘Think nothing of it, Chief Inspector.’ 2000 Esquire July 24/1 The patrons here have no doubt seen movie stars and beer-drinking simians power-lunching before, and so think nothing of it. †15. transitive. To believe in the existence of, to judge or consider to exist. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > accept as true, believe [verb (transitive)] > in existence of believe?a1425 think1532 1532 T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) I. 351 He..percase might thinke sum unkyndenes and also presumpcyon in yow so to handell hym. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 295 Unless there be who think not God at all. View more context for this quotation 1872 Contemp. Rev. 20 92 Whatever its limits in a given percept be, there must be thought corresponding limits in its external sphere. Phrasal verbs With adverbs in specialized senses. to think away 1. transitive. To remove by exercising the mind; consciously to ignore, imagine the non-existence of. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > ignoring, disregard > ignore, disregard [verb (transitive)] > dismiss from consideration to put out of ——a1250 to lay awaya1400 to set asidec1407 to lay by1439 to lay asidec1440 to let (something) walkc1450 to set apart?1473 reject1490 seclude?1531 to let go1535 to put offc1540 to set by1592 sepose1593 to think away1620 to look over ——a1640 prescind1650 seposit1657 decognize1659 inconsider1697 to set over1701 shelf1819 sink1820 shelve1847 eliminate1848 to count out1854 discounta1856 defenestrate1917 neg1987 1620 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster ii. 21 If it bee loue to sit crosse armde, and thinke away the day. a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Beggers Bush v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Mm3 O I am miserably lost; thus fallen Into my Uncles hands, from all my hopes..: Can I not thinke away my selfe and dye? 1849 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 16 376/2 He thinks away every proposition he has been taught to believe. 1880 J. Caird in W. James Varieties Relig. Experience (1902) xviii. 451 But that which I cannot think away is thought or self-consciousness itself. a1910 W. V. Moody Poems & Plays (1912) 79 I left Raphael Just to come drink these eyes of hers, To think away the stains and blurs And make all new again and well. 1982 R. Kahn Seventh Game i. 4 It was time to think away the pain and play the head game. 2001 Church Times 12 Apr. 32/5 Think away the putti buzzing beside it, and the general furnishing of its aedicule... See the Volto Santo if you dare. 2. transitive. To pass or while away in contemplation; to make (time) pass more quickly by thinking about something. Now rare. ΚΠ a1711 J. Norris in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1983) 34 469 Here in this shady lonely grove, I sweetly think my hours away. 1864 F. W. Robinson Mattie III. v. 70 He tried to think the time away by dwelling upon that business in which he intended to embark. 2006 B. L. Worral PodBrandy 20 You remember staring at her..Half-thinking the minutes away With What happened to her?] † to think down Obsolete. rare. transitive. To reduce by exercise of the mind. ΚΠ 1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 85 Meditation here May think down hours to moments. 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 23 ‘A man so afflicted, Sir, must divert distressing thoughts, and not combat with them.’ Boswell. ‘May not he think them down, Sir?’ Johnson. ‘No, Sir. To attempt to think them down is madness.’ to think out transitive (a) To find out, devise, or elaborate by thinking, to construct intellectually. (b) To complete a train of thought about; to consider to the end, come to an eventual conclusion about. (c) To arrive at a clear understanding of by continued thinking; to solve by a process of thought. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > think or have in mind [verb (transitive)] > think out out-thinka1382 to think outa1382 musea1400 excogitatec1530 to run over ——1565 to think through1748 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xvii. 31 Or what wers than that flesh thoȝte out and blod? [L. quid nequius quam quod excogitavit caro et sanguis?] 1621 G. Wither Motto (new ed.) sig. A7 I haue not strength another word to write; Or tell you what I purpose to indite: Or thinke out halfe a thought, before my death. 1650 A. Cowley Guardian iv. iv. sig. D4^v/1 If she e'er did but begin a thought Of wronging any man, she would have wept Before she thought it out. 1842 M. F. Tupper Proverb. Philos. 2nd Ser. 210 Who told thee they [sc. beasts] die at dissolution? boldly think it out. 1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. i. iii. 40 Too mean a subject for despair, or, at least, unworthy of having any remedy..thought out for it. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 519 He meditated deeply on the philosophy of trade, and thought out by degrees a complete..theory. 1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus ii. 25 Oh, don't bother me... I don't want to be uncivil, but I've got to think this out. 1925 W. Faulkner Let. 16 Feb. in Thinking of Home (1992) 184 Right now I am ‘thinking out’ a novel. As soon as I get it all straight, I will begin work. 1968 D. Moraes My Son's Father xi. 200 She was sometimes very perceptive, though her ideas were not thought out but felt. 2004 Washington Post 25 Feb. (Home ed.) c10/5 I don't have anything against tattoos, but getting inked is one of those decisions that needs to be extremely well thought out. to think over transitive. To give continued thought to; to apply the mind steadily to, with the view of coming to a decision. Cf. overthink v.¹ 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > consider, deliberate [verb (transitive)] i-thenchec897 showeOE i-mune971 thinkOE overthinkOE takec1175 umbethinkc1175 waltc1200 bethinkc1220 wend?c1225 weighc1380 delivera1382 peisea1382 considerc1385 musec1390 to look over ——a1393 advise?c1400 debatec1400 roll?c1400 revert?a1425 advertc1425 deliberc1425 movec1425 musec1425 revolvec1425 contemplec1429 overseec1440 to think overc1440 perpend1447 roil1447 pondera1450 to eat inc1450 involvec1470 ponderate?a1475 reputec1475 counterpoise1477 poisea1483 traversec1487 umbecast1487 digest1488 undercast1489 overhalec1500 rumble1519 volve?1520 compassa1522 recount1526 trutinate1528 cast1530 expend1531 ruminate1533 concoct1534 contemplate1538 deliberate1540 revolute1553 chawa1558 to turn over1568 cud1569 cogitate1570 huik1570 chew1579 meditatec1580 discourse1581 speculate1599 theorize1599 scance1603 verse1614 pensitate1623 agitate1629 spell1633 view1637 study1659 designa1676 introspect1683 troll1685 balance1692 to figure on or upon1837 reflect1862 mull1873 to mull over1874 scour1882 mill1905 c1440 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Thornton) in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 38 Thow may..thynke ouer thi synnes be-fore donne. 1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor ii. iii. sig. H^v I will into my priuat Chamber, locke the dore to me, and thinke ouer all his good parts one after another. View more context for this quotation a1647 T. Hooker Applic. of Redempt.: 9th & 10th Bks. (1657) x. 222 Think it over again, cal meditation to counsel, when you have sent your thoughts afar of. 1703 M. Pix Different Widows v. 56 When Merry I'll think over my past Frolicks, and in Sprightly imagination act them over again. 1799 H. Neuman tr. A. von Kotzebue Family Distress ii. v. 27 Think over the matter by yourself. 1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility I. xv. 192 Elinor was then at liberty to think over the representations of her mother. View more context for this quotation 1847 F. Marryat Children of New Forest I. ix. 150 He wished to think it over. 1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xxii. 368 She had thought it well over beforehand. 1938 D. Baker Young Man with Horn ii. i. 103 There it was, faced this way and faced that way. ‘Oh, I'll think it over,’ Rick said with the air of one who doesn't want to do any more facing. 1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship (1977) xv. 326 From Holman's point of view she was only leaving town to ‘think things over’. 1993 Wall St. Jrnl. 6 Oct. a1/4 A stocky, 100-pound white Akbash guard dog..slips, barking and bristling, through the herd for a close encounter with the bear. The snarling grizzly thinks it over, then grumpily retreats. to think through transitive. = to think out (c) at Phrasal verbs, to think out (b) at Phrasal verbs. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > think or have in mind [verb (transitive)] > think out out-thinka1382 to think outa1382 musea1400 excogitatec1530 to run over ——1565 to think through1748 1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 26 July (1932) (modernized text) III. 1184 They..never consider it in all its different views; and, in short, never think it through. 1856 W. Whitman Leaves of Grass (new ed.) 332 To think of time! to think through the retrospection! 1889 Old Test. Student 8 360 To think through the course of the life from beginning to end. 1922 T. Hardy Late Lyrics & Earlier 150 I've been thinking it through, as I play here to-night. 1961 Observer 8 Oct. 10/3 It is doubtful if Mr. Gaitskell himself had thought through the problem of inner-party democracy. 1979 B. Hebblethwaite in M. Goulder Incarnation & Myth iv. 97 A remarkable attempt to think through what it means for our concept of God to say that Christ's cross is God's cross in our world. 2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 x. 260 I had taken the precaution of thinking through the conversation in advance—like using a pair of psychic stabilisers before gaining your balance on the bike of your mind. to think up colloquial (originally U.S.). transitive. To form an idea of; to use one's ingenuity to devise; to invent, contrive, or produce by thinking. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > contrive, devise, or invent [verb (transitive)] findeOE conceive1340 seek1340 brewc1386 divine1393 to find outc1405 to search outc1425 to find up?c1430 forgec1430 upfindc1440 commentc1450 to dream out1533 inventa1538 father1548 spina1575 coin1580 conceit1591 mint1593 spawn1594 cook1599 infantize1619 fabulize1633 notionate1645 to make upc1650 to spin outa1651 to cook up1655 to strike out1735 mother1788 to think up1855 to noodle out1950 gin1980 the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > devise, contrive, or make up, compose, or concoct > by thinking to think up1885 1855 H. B. Stowe in National Era 26 Dec. 1/1 Christmas is coming in a fortnight and I have got to think up presents for everybody. 1872 S. Hale Lett. (1918) iv. 83 He asked our plans at once, took right hold and thought up what we had better do. 1885 Cent. Mag. 29 350/1 I believe she is thinking up another poem. 1901 S. Merwin & H. K. Webster Calumet ‘K’ vii. 108 I had him pretty busy there for a while thinking up lies. 1956 People 13 May 8/6 In America the magic new process—it was thought up over there—is being developed in all sorts of wonderful ways. 2002 Massage & Bodywork June 4/1 Pet massage sure is one of the silliest things humanoids have thought up. Compounds (In some cases the initial element might be the noun think, but this generally refers to a single act of thinking rather than the process.) † thinkache n. Obsolete a painful thought, an instance of mental suffering.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun] sorec888 teeneOE sorrowOE workOE wrakeOE careOE gramec1000 harmOE howc1000 trayOE woweOE angec1175 derfnessc1175 sytec1175 unwinc1175 wosithc1200 ail?c1225 barrat?c1225 derf?c1225 grief?c1225 misease?c1225 misliking?c1225 ofthinkingc1225 passion?c1225 troublec1230 pinec1275 distress1297 grievancea1300 penancea1300 cumbermentc1300 languorc1300 cumbering1303 were1303 angera1325 strifea1325 sweama1325 woea1325 painc1330 tribulationc1330 illa1340 threst1340 constraintc1374 troublenessc1380 afflictiona1382 bruisinga1382 miseasetya1382 pressurec1384 exercisec1386 miscomfortc1390 mislikea1400 smarta1400 thronga1400 balec1400 painfulnessc1400 troublancec1400 smartness?c1425 painliness1435 perplexity?a1439 penalty?1462 calamity1490 penality1496 cumber?a1513 sussy1513 tribule1513 afflict?1529 vexation of spirit1535 troublesomeness1561 hoe1567 grievedness1571 tribulance1575 languishment1576 thrall1578 tine1590 languorment1593 aggrievedness1594 obturbation1623 afflictedness1646 erumny1657 pathos1684 shock1705 dree1791 vex1815 wrungnessa1875 dukkha1886 thinkache1892 sufferation1976 1892 A. E. Bridger Depression p. v Each separate thinkache enumerated by my depressed patients. think-aloud adj. Psychology designating or relating to data obtained by requesting a subject to express his or her thoughts by audible speech while performing a specific task (cf. to think aloud at sense 3b). ΘΚΠ society > communication > information > [adjective] > obtained by monitoring thinking-aloud1959 think-aloud1972 1972 Managem. Sci. 18 b716 Additional study (for example through ‘think aloud’ methods) could then be aimed at the strategy that the decision maker applies when he actually undertakes his task. 1989 Appl. Linguistics 10 424 A cognitive theory..enables us to better understand the processing of language in lexical search as revealed through concurrent think-aloud data. 2006 Jrnl. of Thought (Nexis) 22 June 81 These..descriptions could serve as ‘think-aloud’ protocols and enable facilitators to ascertain students' intellectual development. think balloon n. chiefly British = thinks balloon n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble balloon1843 bubble1915 thinks balloon1959 think bubble1964 thinks bubble1981 think balloon2002 2002 A. McBride Warriors & Warlords 15/2 You can't put in ‘think balloons’, like a cartoon. 2006 Times (Nexis) 17 Mar. t2 7 The sweetheart is sitting in the passenger seat, lips pressed into a thin line so as not to give utterance to the dire sentiments contained in the large think balloon hovering above her head. think book n. (a) a book containing the writer's thoughts, opinions, or observations (see also quot. 1883); (b) a book that challenges the reader intellectually. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > other non-story prose > [noun] > book of thoughts think book1883 1883 G. MacDonald Donal Grant I. xiv. 139 It is the book God is always writing at one end, and blotting out at the other. It is made of thoughts, not words. It is the Think-book. 1962 Listener 25 Oct. 694/2 People who want a short, quick holiday from newspapers, problems, and ‘think’ books. 1994 M. Curry & C. Bromfield Personal & Social Educ. for Primary Schools through Circle-Time 23 Making a journal or think book is a helpful option as it provides an alternative means for children to express feelings, thoughts or anxieties. 1995 R. Fisher Teaching Children to Learn (2001) ii. 26 Another way of encouraging a self-questioning approach is to have a Think Book or Learning Log in which children can write about what they feel and think. 1998 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Oct. 56/2 The Lawrence he admired in his early days was the Lawrence of his ‘think’ books, such as the Fantasia of the Unconscious. think box n. colloquial or humorous the brain as the organ of thought. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > [noun] > as seat of mind braineOE pericranium1590 sensorium1613 brainpana1641 pericrane1682 pericrany1699 brain-box1816 memory box1832 think-tank1889 think box1910 thinking box1911 1910 F. H. Evans in Chums 26 Oct. 128/2 Let me put a bit of ice on my think-box, and I'll tell you all about it. 1911 San Antonio (Texas) Express 31 Dec. Government Canyon, ‘that place of all places where a man's thinkbox can develop more think than anywhere else on earth.’ 1937 Daily Express 5 Feb. 10/6 I do not believe that their brains, or think-boxes, are of sufficient calibre to understand what they are preaching. 2004 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 6 July b6 Frankly, I think the party should..buy another gent to send to Washington, D.C., who isn't so humorous or light in the think box! think bubble n. = thinks balloon n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble balloon1843 bubble1915 thinks balloon1959 think bubble1964 thinks bubble1981 think balloon2002 1964 C. Hodder-Williams Main Experiment i. viii. 95 A drawing of a computer with a think-bubble coming out of it with the caption, ‘Computers’. 1998 N. Whittaker Sweet Talk (1999) 122 Think-bubble over young man's Brylcreem-coated head: ‘The way to a girl's heart is strewn with Nurse Grant's delicious confectionery.’ think factory n. U.S. colloquial a research institution. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > learned person, scholar > [noun] > expert, specialist, authority > group of brain trust1890 brains trust1933 think factory1958 think-tank1958 1958 W. Beach Conscience on Campus vi. 55 Students are rarely excited about the content of courses. This creates..the need for the artificial incentives of grades to propel students through the think-factory. 1990 M. A. Watson Expanding Vista (1994) viii. 171 ‘The country's universities are think factories,’ the top adman said. think-fest n. a festival of thinking; an intellectual treat. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > intellectual superiority > [noun] > intellectual matters intellectuals1654 (the) things of the mind1822 think-fest1947 the mind > emotion > pleasure > quality of being pleasant or pleasurable > [noun] > source of pleasure > a treat > an intellectual treat think-fest1947 1947 W. H. Auden Age of Anxiety i. 25 Assembled again For a Think-Fest. 1958 Sunday Times 21 Dec. 12/3 The most stimulating think-fest in my week was Sir Kenneth Clark's lucid lecture on the revolting subject, ‘Can Art Be Democratic?’. 2004 Sunday Star-Times (Auckland, N.Z.) (Nexis) 6 June 3 The Hay Festival is on—a huge annual think-fest and international beard magnet..which Bill Clinton, who spoke there last year, called a sort of Woodstock for the Mind. think group n. a group of people that meets to discuss a subject or solve a problem. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > other types of association, society, or organization invisible college1647 rota1660 working party1744 free association1761 working committee1821 Ethical Society1822 bar association1824 league1846 congress1870 tiger1874 cult1875 Daughters of the American Revolution1890 community group1892 housing association1898 working party1902 development agency1910 affinity group1915 propaganda machine1916 funding body1922 collective1925 Ku-Klux1930 network1946 NGO1946 production brigade1950 umbrella organization1950 plantation1956 think-tank1958 think group1961 team1990 1961 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 55 60/1 General Electric..has also established a ‘think’ group of its own, as have other corporations. 1967 Guardian 26 Sept. 8/1 Think groups, in which scientists frighten one another with visions of a not too distant future. 1997 Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia) (Nexis) 24 Mar. b7 The ‘think’ group loftily aspires to knowledge, but the ‘fact’ group provides the means to get there, step by step. think-man n. = ideas man n. at idea n. Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > [noun] > creator or inventor craftsmana1382 feigner1382 finderc1384 finder-upc1425 engineer?a1513 finder-out1534 inventor1555 conceiver1581 conceiter1603 conceitist1628 commenter1645 ideas man1845 think-man1967 1967 Economist 15 July 187/1 Nor is Mr Brezhnev the think-man who throws up bright new ideas to keep his colleagues on the ball. 1993 L. E. Kay Molecular Vision of Life viii. 243 Delbrück's impact as a man of action..was matched by his reputation as a ‘think-man’, whose theoretical grasp of problems in physics, chemistry, and biology endowed him with an unusual ability to integrate knowledge across scientific boundaries. think-piece n. chiefly Journalism an article containing discussion, analysis, or opinion, as opposed to fact or news. ΘΚΠ society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > article > other types of article lost1762 human interest1779 sub-article1815 sub-leader1839 turn-over1842 feuilleton1845 special1861 spesh1887 causerie1903 personality profile1922 think-piece1935 situationer1937 turnover article1952 opinion piece1957 tick-tock1972 listicle2007 society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > thoughtful or reflective > containing opinion rather than fact think-piece1935 blue sky book1954 1935 Harper's 1 Dec. 701/2 We [sc. reporters] wanted to work,..but there was nothing with which to build. So we faked and wrote ‘think pieces’ and sat about, glass in hand, until something happened to break the monotony. 1941 Q. Reynolds Wounded don't Cry viii. 106 I can't say much about it because I wasn't there and I think a man is a fool to write ‘think’ pieces these days. 1966 E. West Night is Time for Listening iv. 120 I'm not reporting stories... I'm in the think piece business these days. 2000 Times 13 Jan. iii. 42/8 While toiling away on his homebake contest splash, he dreams of writing serious think-pieces about the souring of the American Dream. 2000 Handbk. Lat. Amer. Stud. (Libr. Congress) 57 420/1 Collection of ‘think pieces’ by leading Mexican leftist intellectuals on the future of the political left in that country. think room n. a room or apartment set aside for meditation or developing ideas. ΚΠ 1906 Month July 72 Castle, work-room, think-room. 1958 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 27 466/2 ‘Think Room.’ This room is equipped with soft furniture and a selected list of periodicals and books in various fields... Students go there to think. 2005 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 17 Oct. E3 Known as the ‘Think Room’, this 30-by-30-foot box of a space serves as an idea incubator for many of the company's 300 employees. thinks balloon n. chiefly British (in a comic-strip cartoon or similar illustration) a circle resembling a balloon or bubble floating above a character's head and containing the character's thought in direct speech, originally following the word ‘thinks’; cf. think balloon n., think bubble n., thinks bubble n., thought balloon n., thought bubble n. (b) at thought n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble balloon1843 bubble1915 thinks balloon1959 think bubble1964 thinks bubble1981 think balloon2002 1959 Spectator 31 July 133/3 In a ‘thinks’ balloon are the words: ‘Rock Hanson..looks an awful wolf.’ 1977 Times 31 May 7/6 Roy Lichtenstein's Girl at the Piano has a nice verbal irony in the ‘thinks balloon’ as she muses. 2005 J. Crinson in E. English & J. Williamson Meeting Standards in Primary Eng. ix. 134 The pictures..can be captioned, or have ‘speech bubbles’ or ‘thinks balloons’ added. thinks bubble n. = thinks balloon n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > comic or cartoon > balloon or bubble balloon1843 bubble1915 thinks balloon1959 think bubble1964 thinks bubble1981 think balloon2002 1981 N. Tucker Child & Bk. v. 141 The self-proclaiming speech styles of the main characters [in comics], and their periodic ‘thinks’ bubbles. 2003 M. Abbott Family Affairs vi. 154 Their daughter Jessica..wrote ‘boredom’ on a ‘thinks bubble’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022). > see also also refers to : -thinkcomb. form < n.1834v.¹eOEv.²eOE see also
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thinkn.

† thinkv.1

thinkv.2

Phrasal verbs

Compounds

> see also

† thinkv.¹

thinkv.²