thank
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: thăngk
ipa: /θæŋk/
ipa: /ðæŋk/
ipa: /θæŋk/
ipa: [θeɪ̯ŋk]
ipa: [t̪eɪ̯ŋk]
ipa: [ðeɪ̯ŋk]
ipa: /θɛŋk/
rhymes: -æŋk
Forms: form: thanks
form: thanking
form: thanked
form: thanked
Etymology: From Middle English thanken, thankien (“to express gratitude, give thanks; to congratulate, rejoice with, or wish joy to; to extol, praise; to hold responsible for”), from Old English þancian, þoncian (“to thank”), from Proto-West Germanic *þankōn, from Proto-Germanic *þankōną (“to thank”), from *þankaz (see etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming infinitives of verbs from nouns).
Cognates
* Danish takke (“to thank”)
* Dutch danken (“to thank”)
* German danken (“to thank”)
* Icelandic þakka (“to thank”)
* Low German danken (“to thank”)
* Norwegian takke (“to thank”)
* Saterland Frisian tonkje (“to thank”)
* Swedish tacka (“to thank”)
* West Frisian tanke (“to thank”)
Senses: examples: text: She thanked him for the lift.
text: [H]aſt thou no ſhame to deſpiſe that perſone, to whom onely and no man els, thou art bounde to thanke, euen for this veraie pointe, that thou ſetteſt ſo moche by thy peinted ſheathe?
ref: 1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Diogenes the Cynike”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book I, folio 106, recto, paragraph 190:
text: I can eate no meate, I thanke you.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature B, recto:
text: The naked Negro, panting at the line, / Baſks in the glare, or ſtems the tepid vvave, / And thanks his Gods for all the good they gave.
ref: 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 5:
text: [S]ae laigh I need na bovv, / For, Lord be thankit, I can plough; / And vvhen I dovvna yoke a naig, / Then, Lord be thankit, I can beg; […]
ref: 1793, Robert Burns, “A Dedication to G[avin] H[amilton] Esq”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 66:
text: That his Majesty has good subjects in England, my Lord Duke, he is bound to thank God and the laws—that he has subjects in Scotland, I think he may thank God and the sword.
ref: 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 310:
text: She had at once the air of good fellowship and the dignity of a woman, and she seemed to understand Farrar and me perfectly. […] By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 70:
text: The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion now thanked the Good Witch earnestly for her kindness, […]
ref: 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Good Witch Grants Dorothy’s Wish”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC, page 256:
text: I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 97:
text: We were able to transport goods and critical workers all the way through the pandemic, and at the time we had the Prime Minister thanking everyone for what was achieved.
ref: 2023 November 15, Ian Prosser, quoting Stefanie Foster, “A Healthy Person is a More Productive Person”, in Rail, number 996, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32:
glosses: To express appreciation or gratitude toward (someone or something).
examples: text: I’ll thank you not to smoke in my house!
text: Our readers would not thank us for going into the badgerings which had for some time annoyed the chancellor on the subject of arrears in his court.
ref: 1844, “Art. IV.—The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, including His Correspondence, and Selections from the Anecdote Book, Written by Himself. By Horace Twiss, Esq., One of Her Majesty’s Counsel. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1844. [book review]”, in John Taylor Coleridge, editor, The Quarterly Review, volume LXXIV, number CXLVII, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 104:
glosses: In the future tense in the form one will thank someone to do something, chiefly expressing a command or criticism: to request that (someone) do something.
glosses: To express appreciation or gratitude for (something).
examples: text: I should summon my lord from the Queen's royal presence to do your business, should I?—I were like to be thanked with a horse-whip.
ref: 1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 11–12:
glosses: To respond to (someone) out of, or as if out of, appreciation or gratitude.
examples: text: We can thank global warming for this freak weather.
glosses: Chiefly followed by for: to credit or hold (someone or something) responsible, especially for something negative; to blame.
glosses: To express gratitude.
Derived terms: word: bethank
word: no thank you
word: rethank
word: thankable
word: thanker
word: thank fuck
word: thank God
word: thank god
word: thank Goddess
word: thank goddesses
word: thank Goddesses
word: thank God it's Friday
word: thank gods
word: thank goodness
word: thank heavens
word: thanking
word: thank one's lucky stars
word: thank one's stars
word: thank science
word: thank the goddesses
word: thank the Goddesses
word: thank u
word: thankworthy
word: thank ya
word: thank ye
word: thank ye so very much
word: thank-you
word: thank you
word: thank you all
word: thank you card
word: thank-you-ma'am
word: thank you very much
word: unthank
word: unthanking
word: wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am