- Thing
- Thing Thing (th[i^]ng), n. [AS. [thorn]ing a thing, cause,
assembly, judicial assembly; akin to [thorn]ingan to
negotiate, [thorn]ingian to reconcile, conciliate, D. ding a
thing, OS. thing thing, assembly, judicial assembly, G. ding
a thing, formerly also, an assembly, court, Icel. [thorn]ing
a thing, assembly, court, Sw. & Dan. ting; perhaps originally
used of the transaction of or before a popular assembly, or
the time appointed for such an assembly; cf. G. dingen to
bargain, hire, MHG. dingen to hold court, speak before a
court, negotiate, Goth. [thorn]eihs time, perhaps akin to L.
tempus time. Cf. {Hustings}, and {Temporal} of time.]
1. Whatever exists, or is conceived to exist, as a separate
entity, whether animate or inanimate; any separable or
distinguishable object of thought.
[1913 Webster]
God made . . . every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. --Gen. i. 25. [1913 Webster]
He sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt. --Gen. xiv. 23. [1913 Webster]
A thing of beauty is a joy forever. --Keats. [1913 Webster]
2. An inanimate object, in distinction from a living being; any lifeless material. [1913 Webster]
Ye meads and groves, unconscious things! --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
3. A transaction or occurrence; an event; a deed. [1913 Webster]
[And Jacob said] All these things are against me. --Gen. xlii. 36. [1913 Webster]
Which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. --Matt. xxi. 24. [1913 Webster]
4. A portion or part; something. [1913 Webster]
Wicked men who understand any thing of wisdom. --Tillotson. [1913 Webster]
5. A diminutive or slighted object; any object viewed as merely existing; -- often used in pity or contempt. [1913 Webster]
See, sons, what things you are! --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The poor thing sighed, and . . . turned from me. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
I'll be this abject thing no more. --Granville. [1913 Webster]
I have a thing in prose. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
6. pl. Clothes; furniture; appurtenances; luggage; as, to pack or store one's things. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
Note: Formerly, the singular was sometimes used in a plural or collective sense. [1913 Webster]
And them she gave her moebles and her thing. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
Note: Thing was used in a very general sense in Old English, and is still heard colloquially where some more definite term would be used in careful composition. [1913 Webster]
In the garden [he] walketh to and fro, And hath his things [i. e., prayers, devotions] said full courteously. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
Hearkening his minstrels their things play. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
7. (Law) Whatever may be possessed or owned; a property; -- distinguished from person. [1913 Webster]
8. [In this sense pronounced t[i^]ng.] In Scandinavian countries, a legislative or judicial assembly. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
{Things personal}. (Law) Same as {Personal property}, under {Personal}.
{Things real}. Same as {Real property}, under {Real}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
