thing

CEFRA1

/ˈfɪŋ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An object, idea, event, or action.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.

Examples

  • Can you pass me that thing over there?

  • That's the stupidest thing I've ever said.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈtɪŋ/
  • /ˈθiŋ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An individual object or distinct entity.

  2. That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.

  3. Whatever can be owned.

More examples

In context

  • Innocence is a beautiful thing.

  • Cheek kissing is a French thing; you get used to it after a while.

  • Hold on, let me just grab my things.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The box contained a small, shiny blank that I could not identify.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English thing, from Old English þing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Ding (“thing”), West Frisian ting, ding (“thing”), Dutch ding (“thing”), German Low German Ding (“thing”), German Ding (“thing”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ting (“thing”), Faroese ting (“parliament, assembly”), Icelandic þing (“congress, assembly”). The word originally meant "assembly", then came to mean a specific issue discussed at such an assembly, and ultimately came to mean most broadly "an object". Compare Latin rēs, also meaning "legal matter", and same transition from Latin causa (“legal matter”) to "thing" in Rom...