Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Thought

Thought

,
imp.
&
p.
p.
of
Think
.

Thought

,
Noun.
[OE.
þoght
,
þouht
, AS.
þōht
, ge
þōht
, fr.
þencean
to think; akin to D. ge
dachte
thought, MHG.
dāht
, ge
dāht
, Icel.
þōttr
,
þōtti
. See
Think
.]
1.
The act of thinking; the exercise of the mind in any of its higher forms; reflection; cogitation.
Thought
can not be superadded to matter, so as in any sense to render it true that matter can become cogitative.
Dr. T. Dwight.
2.
Meditation; serious consideration.
Pride, of all others the most dangerous fault,
Proceeds from want of sense or want of
thought
.
Roscommon.
3.
That which is thought; an idea; a mental conception, whether an opinion, judgment, fancy, purpose, or intention.
Thus Bethel spoke, who always speaks his
thought
.
Pope.
Why do you keep alone, . . .
Using those
thoughts
which should indeed have died
With them they think on?
Shakespeare
Thoughts
come crowding in so fast upon me, that my only difficulty is to choose or to reject.
Dryden.
All their
thoughts
are against me for evil.
Ps. lvi. 5.
4.
Solicitude; anxious care; concern.
Hawis was put in trouble, and died with
thought
and anguish before his business came to an end.
Bacon.
Take no
thought
for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink.
Matt. vi. 25.
5.
A small degree or quantity; a trifle;
as, a
thought
longer; a
thought
better.
[Colloq.]
If the hair were a
thought
browner.
Shakespeare
Thought, in philosophical usage now somewhat current, denotes the capacity for, or the exercise of, the very highest intellectual functions, especially those usually comprehended under judgment.
This [faculty], to which I gave the name of the “elaborative faculty,” – the faculty of relations or comparison, – constitutes what is properly denominated
thought
.
Sir W. Hamilton.
Syn. – Idea; conception; imagination; fancy; conceit; notion; supposition; reflection; consideration; meditation; contemplation; cogitation; deliberation.

Webster 1828 Edition


Thought

THOUGHT

, pret. and pp. of think; pronounced thaut.

THOUGHT

,
Adj.
thaut. [primarily the passive participle of think, supra.
1.
Properly, that which the mind thinks. Thought is either the act or operation of the mind, when attending to a particular subject or thing or it is the idea consequent on that operation.
We say, a man's thoughts are employed on government, on religion, on trade or arts, or his thoughts are employed on his dress or his means of living. By this we mean that the mind is directed to that particular subject or object; that is, according to the literal import of the verb think, the mind, the intellectual part of man, is set upon such an object, it holds it in view or contemplation, or it extends to it, it stretches to it.
Thought cannot be superadded to matter, so as in any sense to render it true that matter can become cogitative.
2.
Idea; conception. I wish to convey my thoughts to another person. I employ words that express my thoughts, so that he may have the same ideas; in this case, our thoughts will be alike.
3.
Fancy; conceit; something framed by the imagination.
Thoughts come crowding in so fast upon me, that my only difficulty is to choose or reject.
4.
Reflection; particular consideration.
Why do you keep alone?
Using those thoughts which should have died
With them they think on.
5.
Opinion; judgment.
Thus Bethel spoke, who always speaks his thoughts.
6.
Meditation; serious consideration.
Pride, of all others the most dangerous fault,
Proceeds from want of sense or want of thought.
7.
Design; purpose.
All their thoughts are against me for evil. Ps.56. 33.
Jer.29.
8.
Silent contemplation.
9.
Solicitude; care; concern.
Hawis was put in trouble, and died with thought and anguish before his business came to an end.
10. Inward reasoning; the workings of conscience.
Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Rom.2.
11. A small degree or quantity; as a thought longer; a thought better. [Not in use.]
To take thought, to be solicitous or anxious. Matt.6.

Definition 2024


thought

thought

English

Alternative forms

Noun

thought (plural thoughts)

  1. Form created in the mind, rather than the forms perceived through the five senses; an instance of thinking.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
  2. (uncountable) The process by which such forms arise or are manipulated; thinking.
    • Paul Fix
      The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.
  3. A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation or region).
    "Eastern thought".

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

thought

  1. simple past tense and past participle of think

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: take · last · here · #138: thought · found · people · still