# thought

> English word · Noun · IPA /θɔt/ · frequency rank #235

## Definitions
1. A representation created in the mind without the use of one's faculties of vision, sound, smell, touch, or taste; an instance of thinking.
2. The operation by which mental activity arise or are manipulated; the process of thinking; the agency by which thinking is accomplished.
3. A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation or region).
4. Anxiety, distress.
5. The careful consideration of multiple factors; deliberation.
6. A very small amount, distance, etc.; a whit or jot.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *teng-der.
Proto-Germanic *þankijaną
Proto-Germanic *þanhtaz
Proto-West Germanic *þą̄ht
Old English þōht
Middle English thought
English thought
From Middle English thought, ithoȝt, from Old English þōht, ġeþōht, from Proto-West Germanic *þą̄ht, from Proto-Germanic *þanhtaz, *gaþanhtą (“thought”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think”). Cognate with Scots thocht (“thought”), Saterland Frisian Toacht (“thought”), West Frisian dacht (“attention, regard, thought”), Dutch gedachte (“thought”), German Andacht (“reverence, devotion, prayer”), Icelandic þóttur (“thought”). Related to thank, think.

## Easily confused with
- **tough** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thought-vs-tough)
- **trough** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thought-vs-trough)
- **through** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thought-vs-through)
- **thoughts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thought-vs-thoughts)
- **though** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/though-vs-thought)
- **taught** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taught-vs-thought)

## Common misspellings (11)
`htought`, `thhought`, `thoguht`, `thougght`, `thoughht`, `thoughtt`, `thougth`, `thouhgt`, `thuoght`, `tohught`, `tthought`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/thought