"Thing" meaning in English

See Thing in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /θɪŋ/ Audio: en-us-thing.ogg [US] Forms: Things [plural]
enPR: thĭng Rhymes: -ɪŋ Etymology: See thing. Etymology templates: {{m|en|thing}} thing Head templates: {{en-noun}} Thing (plural Things)
  1. (chiefly historical) A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country. Tags: historical Translations (public assembly): ting (Danish), ding (Dutch), ting (Estonian), ting (Faroese), ting (Finnish), thing (Finnish), Thing (French), Ding [neuter] (German), Thing [neuter] (German), þing (Icelandic), ting (Italian), thing (Italian), тинг (ting) [masculine] (Macedonian), ting (Norwegian), þing (Old English), ding (Old High German), þing (Old Norse), thing [feminine, masculine] (Portuguese), тинг (ting) (Russian), thing (Spanish), ting (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-Thing-en-noun-Tvw9R2sA Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 22 39 39 Disambiguation of 'public assembly': 93 7 0
  2. (informal) Nickname or appellative for numerous "things", including fictional characters. Tags: informal Derived forms: Thingstead, the Althing of Iceland, the Great Thing of Norway, the Law Thing of the Faroes
    Sense id: en-Thing-en-noun-bcbE-bPm Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 22 39 39
  3. (informal, slang, US) Nickname for the Volkswagen 181. Tags: US, informal, slang
    Sense id: en-Thing-en-noun-v3DsrAcI Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 22 39 39

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for Thing meaning in English (6.0kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "thing"
      },
      "expansion": "thing",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "See thing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Things",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Thing (plural Things)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "22 39 39",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1894, George W. Dasent, transl., The Orkneyingers Saga: Icelandic Sagas, volume 3",
          "text": "But when the earl held a Thing, then Thorkell spoke on behalf of the freemen, told the need of the men, and bade the earl spare his people.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1988, Patrick J. Geary, Chapter II, \"The Barbarian World in the Sixth Century\", 'Germanic Culture', Before France and Germany: the creation and transformation of the Merovingian world, page 55",
          "text": "The supreme political unit of the tribe was the assembly of its free male warriors. This assembly, called the \"Thing\", served as the court of highest instance for dealing with individuals who had broken fundamental elements of the tribal pact, an occasion to meet and to reinforce ties among members, and, often, an assembly which preceded a military campaign."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 168",
          "text": "Before Thorstein left home, he and Asgerd decided to take Arinbjorn's gift, the silk cloak, out of Egil's chest, and Thorstein wore it to the Thing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Sjúrður Skaale, The Right to National Self-Determination: the Faroe Islands and Greenland, page 46",
          "text": "1928 The Executive Committee of the Law Thing is created to assume executive powers from the Governor.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country."
      ],
      "id": "en-Thing-en-noun-Tvw9R2sA",
      "links": [
        [
          "assembly",
          "assembly"
        ],
        [
          "judicial",
          "judicial"
        ],
        [
          "council",
          "council"
        ],
        [
          "Germanic",
          "Germanic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly historical) A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ding"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "et",
          "lang": "Estonian",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "fo",
          "lang": "Faroese",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "thing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "Thing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Ding"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Thing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "þing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "thing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "ting",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "тинг"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "ang",
          "lang": "Old English",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "þing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "goh",
          "lang": "Old High German",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ding"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "non",
          "lang": "Old Norse",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "þing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "thing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ting",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "тинг"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "thing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "public assembly",
          "word": "ting"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "22 39 39",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "20 80 0",
          "word": "Thingstead"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "20 80 0",
          "word": "the Althing of Iceland"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "20 80 0",
          "word": "the Great Thing of Norway"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "20 80 0",
          "word": "the Law Thing of the Faroes"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nickname or appellative for numerous \"things\", including fictional characters."
      ],
      "id": "en-Thing-en-noun-bcbE-bPm",
      "links": [
        [
          "thing",
          "thing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Nickname or appellative for numerous \"things\", including fictional characters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 39 39",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nickname for the Volkswagen 181."
      ],
      "id": "en-Thing-en-noun-v3DsrAcI",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, slang, US) Nickname for the Volkswagen 181."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "informal",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/θɪŋ/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋ"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-thing.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b1/En-us-thing.ogg/En-us-thing.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/En-us-thing.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "thĭng"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Thing (assembly)"
  ],
  "word": "Thing"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋ"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "Thingstead"
    },
    {
      "word": "the Althing of Iceland"
    },
    {
      "word": "the Great Thing of Norway"
    },
    {
      "word": "the Law Thing of the Faroes"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "thing"
      },
      "expansion": "thing",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "See thing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Things",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Thing (plural Things)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1894, George W. Dasent, transl., The Orkneyingers Saga: Icelandic Sagas, volume 3",
          "text": "But when the earl held a Thing, then Thorkell spoke on behalf of the freemen, told the need of the men, and bade the earl spare his people.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1988, Patrick J. Geary, Chapter II, \"The Barbarian World in the Sixth Century\", 'Germanic Culture', Before France and Germany: the creation and transformation of the Merovingian world, page 55",
          "text": "The supreme political unit of the tribe was the assembly of its free male warriors. This assembly, called the \"Thing\", served as the court of highest instance for dealing with individuals who had broken fundamental elements of the tribal pact, an occasion to meet and to reinforce ties among members, and, often, an assembly which preceded a military campaign."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 168",
          "text": "Before Thorstein left home, he and Asgerd decided to take Arinbjorn's gift, the silk cloak, out of Egil's chest, and Thorstein wore it to the Thing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Sjúrður Skaale, The Right to National Self-Determination: the Faroe Islands and Greenland, page 46",
          "text": "1928 The Executive Committee of the Law Thing is created to assume executive powers from the Governor.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "assembly",
          "assembly"
        ],
        [
          "judicial",
          "judicial"
        ],
        [
          "council",
          "council"
        ],
        [
          "Germanic",
          "Germanic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly historical) A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nickname or appellative for numerous \"things\", including fictional characters."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "thing",
          "thing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Nickname or appellative for numerous \"things\", including fictional characters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English informal terms",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nickname for the Volkswagen 181."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, slang, US) Nickname for the Volkswagen 181."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "informal",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/θɪŋ/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋ"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-thing.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b1/En-us-thing.ogg/En-us-thing.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/En-us-thing.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "thĭng"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ding"
    },
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "fo",
      "lang": "Faroese",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "thing"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "Thing"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Ding"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Thing"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "þing"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "thing"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "ting",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "тинг"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "ang",
      "lang": "Old English",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "þing"
    },
    {
      "code": "goh",
      "lang": "Old High German",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ding"
    },
    {
      "code": "non",
      "lang": "Old Norse",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "þing"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "thing"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ting",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "тинг"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "thing"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "public assembly",
      "word": "ting"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Thing (assembly)"
  ],
  "word": "Thing"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (1d5a7d1 and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.