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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

think

/ˈθɪŋk/
To ponder, to go over in one's mind.

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken, thenchen, from Old English þenċan, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną (“to think”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think, feel, know”).

    Cognate with Scots think, thynk (“to think”), North Frisian teenk, taanke, tanke, tånke (“to think”), Saterland Frisian toanke (“to think”), West Frisian tinke (“to think”), Dutch denken, dinken (“to think”), Afrikaans dink (“to think”), Low German denken, dinken (“to think”), German denken (“to think”), Danish tænke (“to think”), Swedish tänka (“to think”), Norwegian Bokmål tenke (“to think”), Norwegian Nynorsk tenkja (“to think”), Icelandic þekkja (“to know, recognise, identify, perceive”), Gothic þagkjan (“to think”), Latin tongeō (“know”).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken (also thinchen, thünchen), from Old English þyncan (“to seem, appear”), from Proto-Germanic *þunkijaną (“to seem”).

    Cognate with Dutch dunken (“to seem, appear”), German dünken (“to seem, appear”), Danish tykkes (“to seem”), Swedish tycka (“to seem, think, regard”), Icelandic þykja (“to be regarded, be considered, seem”). More at methinks.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishthinken
      • inheritedOld Englishþenċan
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*þankijan
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*þankijaną
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*teng- “to moisten, wet”
      • inheritedOld Englishþyncan “to seem, appear”
        • inheritedProto-Germanic*þunkijaną “to seem”

    Related: Scots think, North Frisian teenk, Saterland Frisian toanke, West Frisian tinke, Dutch denken, Afrikaans dink, Low German denken, German denken, Danish tænke, Swedish tänka, Norwegian Bokmål tenke, Norwegian Nynorsk tenkja, Icelandic þekkja, Gothic þagkjan, Latin tongeō, Dutch dunken, German dünken, Danish tykkes, Swedish tycka, Icelandic þykja

    Words built on it: thinking

    Meanings

    verb
    1. To ponder, to go over in one's mind.
    2. To have (some statement) in one's mind; to say to oneself mentally.
    3. To communicate to oneself in one's mind, to try to find a solution to a problem.
    4. To conceive of something or someone
    5. To be of the opinion (that); to consider, judge, regard, or look upon (something) as.
    6. To guess; to reckon; to believe while admittedly being uncertain.
    noun
    1. An act of thinking; consideration (of something).

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: think