Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗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. · Whatever can be owned.
To express as a thing; to reify.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tenk-? Proto-Indo-European *tenkóm Proto-Germanic *þingą Proto-West Germanic *þing Old English þing Middle English thing English thing 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". Compare Latin rēs, also meaning "legal matter", and same transition from Latin causa (“legal matter”) to "thing" in Romance languages. Modern use to refer to a Germanic assembly is likely influenced by cognates (from the same Proto-Germanic root) like Old Norse þing (“thing”), Danish ting, Swedish ting, and Old High German ding with this meaning.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionthingenm
- Inherited-form mentionþingang
- Inherited-form mention*þinggmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*þingągem-pro
- Cognate mentionDingstq · thing
- Cognate mentiontingfy
- Cognate mentiondingnl · thing
- Cognate mentionDingde · thing
- Cognate mentiontingfo · parliament, assembly
- Cognate mentionþingis · congress, assembly
- Cognate mentionhingsco · thing
- Cognate mentionþingnon
- Cognate mentiontingda
- Cognate mentiontingsv
- Cognate mentiondinggoh
This page abbreviates 18 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:thing",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *tenk-?\nProto-Indo-European *tenkóm\nProto-Germanic *þingą\nProto-West Germanic *þing\nOld English þing\nMiddle English thing\nEnglish thing\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*þingą\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*þing\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"þing\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"thing\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"thing\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"thing\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "thing"
},
"expansion": "Middle English thing"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "þing"
},
"expansion": "Old English þing"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*þing"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *þing"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*þingą"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *þingą"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Ding",
"t": "thing"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Ding (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "ting"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian ting"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "ding",
"t": "thing"
},
"expansion": "Dutch ding (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Ding",
"t": "thing"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Ding (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Ding",
"t": "thing"
},
"expansion": "German Ding (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb,nn,sv",
"2": "ting",
"t": "thing"
},
"expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ting (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "ting",
"t": "parliament, assembly"
},
"expansion": "Faroese ting (“parliament, assembly”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "þing",
"t": "congress, assembly"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic þing (“congress, assembly”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "hing",
"t": "thing"
},
"expansion": "Scots hing (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "rēs"
},
"expansion": "Latin rēs"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "causa",
"3": "",
"4": "legal matter"
},
"expansion": "Latin causa (“legal matter”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "non",
"2": "þing",
"3": "",
"4": "thing"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse þing (“thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "ting"
},
"expansion": "Danish ting"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "ting"
},
"expansion": "Swedish ting"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "ding"
},
"expansion": "Old High German ding"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:thing",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *tenk-?\nProto-Indo-European *tenkóm\nProto-Germanic *þingą\nProto-West Germanic *þing\nOld English þing\nMiddle English thing\nEnglish thing"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*tenk-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/tenk-"
],
[
"*tenkóm",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/tenkóm"
],
[
"*þingą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/þingą"
],
[
"*þing",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/þing"
],
[
"þing",
"þing#Old_English"
],
[
"thing",
"thing#Middle_English"
],
[
"thing",
"thing#Middle_English"
],
[
"þing",
"þing#Old_English"
],
[
"*þing",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/þing"
],
[
"*þingą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/þingą"
],
[
"Ding",
"Ding#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"ting",
"ting#West_Frisian"
],
[
"ding",
"ding#West_Frisian"
],
[
"ding",
"ding#Dutch"
],
[
"Ding",
"Ding#Low_German"
],
[
"Ding",
"Ding#German"
],
[
"Danish",
"ting#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"ting#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"Norwegian Nynorsk",
"ting#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"ting",
"ting#Swedish"
],
[
"ting",
"ting#Faroese"
],
[
"þing",
"þing#Icelandic"
],
[
"hing",
"hing#Scots"
],
[
"rēs",
"res#Latin"
],
[
"causa",
"causa#Latin"
],
[
"þing",
"þing#Old_Norse"
],
[
"ting",
"ting#Danish"
],
[
"ting",
"ting#Swedish"
],
[
"ding",
"ding#Old_High_German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"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.",
"Whatever can be owned."
],
"tags": [],
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},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To express as a thing; to reify."
],
"tags": [
"rare"
],
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}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 18,
"glosses": 0
}
}