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Added 5 October 2026

thing

/θɪŋ/ noun

In Latin: rēs, ens Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about thing at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.
A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
An individual object or distinct entity.

verb

To express as a thing; to reify.

Origin

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”), Scots hing (“thing”). 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".

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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