thing

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

Noun

  1. That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.
    • Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us... - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],...
    • The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […], "share the things you love with the...
  2. A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
  3. An individual object or distinct entity.
  4. Whatever can be owned.
  5. Corporeal object.
  6. Possessions or equipment; stuff; gear.
    • Hold on, let me just grab my things.
  7. The latest fad or fashion.
    • To go to bed late, to rise late, to breakfast late, to dine late, and to visit late, is to be “quite the thing,” or in good English, which you may understand better than the first phrase, to be in the fashion. - 1802,...
    • After a slow start it became the thing to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi[…]' - 2002, Roger Nichols, The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917-1929, Univ of California Press,...
  8. A custom or practice.
    • Cheek kissing is a French thing; you get used to it after a while.
  9. A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief).
    • Q: Bacon pie? Is that a thing? A: Yes, I checked into it, and it's a thing. Some people are even connoisseurs about it.
    • Now I don't know how many of those male flight attendants are male lesbians -- you know... (Laughter) Well, it's a thing. I mean, there's a -- it's a -- there's a feminist professor down in Tampa who's discovered a male...
    • Frequent statements of the kind “'Race' is not a thing”, “'races,' put simply, do not exist”, “'race' (as each essay subtly shows) simply does not exist” aim to discredit Todorov's claim that a relapse to an ontology of...
  10. A unit or container, usually containing consumable goods.
    • Could you get me a thing of apple juice at the store?
    • I just ate a whole thing of jelly beans.
    • And he invited us all in there and then he kicked the girls out a little bit later and brought me in a couple things of alcohol. And just before he brought in my second bottle of alcohol[…] - 1998 March 24, Geraldo...
  11. A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor.
    • The car looks cheap, but the thing is, I have doubts about its safety.
    • That's the thing: we don't know where he is.
    • We can't exactly die; that's like, the whole thing here? - 2025 June 20, Gooseworx, “Untitled” (18:28 from the start), in The Amazing Digital Circus, episode 5, spoken by Ragatha (Amanda Hufford):
  12. A penis.
    • “Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.” - 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 150:

Origin

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”). 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...

Forms

things thang thin' thinge thynge ting

Synonyms

item stuff yoke penis predilection

Related

thingy thingie thingo [Aus] thee theedom

Derived

a little knowledge is a dangerous thing a little learning is a dangerous thing all good things come to an end all good things must come to an end allthing all things being equal all things come to those who wait all things considered all things to all men all things to all people a mind is a terrible thing to waste among other things and another thing another thing any old thing anything a thing or two bad things come in threes be another thing be a thing be one thing best thing since sliced bread best thing since sliced pan big things come in small packages

Verb

  1. To express as a thing; to reify.

Forms

things thinging thinged thang thin' thinge thynge ting