Etymograph

English

thought

Thought comes from Middle English thought ‘product of mental activity’, from Proto-Germanic *þanhtaz ‘thought, idea’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teng- ‘to think’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teng-‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þankijaną‘to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þanhtaz‘thought’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þą̄htreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150þōht
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thought‘product of mental activity’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teng-‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þankijaną‘to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þanhtaz‘thought’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þą̄htreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150þōht
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thought‘product of mental activity’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Which of you by taking thought, can adde one…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *teng- ‘to think’

thank, thinking, tent, dunk, tinge, tincture, methinks, 19 more

through Proto-Germanic *þankijaną ‘to perceive, to think’

think, 11 more

through Middle English thought ‘product of mental activity’

thot, 4 more

Today it means

noun A representation created in the mind without the use of one's faculties of vision, sound, smell, touch, or taste; an instance of thinking.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teng- / thought

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