Etimology
From Middle English thing, from Old English þing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą. Compare West Frisian ding, Low German Ding, Dutch ding, German Ding, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian ting, Finnish tinki. 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.
noun
thing (plural things)
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.
(law)
(in the plural) Clothes, possessions or equipment.
(somewhat dated, with the) The latest fad or fashion.
(informal) A custom or practice.
(informal) A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief). [from 20th c.]
(informal) A unit or container, usually containing consumable goods.
(informal) A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor; the crux.
(informal) The central point; the crux.
(slang) A penis.
A living being or creature.
Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent.
(informal, used possessively) That which is favoured; personal preference.
(informal, used possessively, with "do") One's typical routine, habits, or manner.
(chiefly historical) A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.
(informal) A romantic relationship.
(informal) A romantic couple.
(MLE) Alternative form of ting.
(MLE) Girl; attractive woman.
Examples
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...
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 world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
Hold on, let me just grab my things.
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.
After a slow start it became the thing to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi […] '
Cheek kissing is a French thing; you get used to it after a while.
Bacon pie? Is that a thing?
Now I don't know how many of those male flight attendants are male lesbians -- you know... 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 lesbianAccessed via COCA
Accessed via COCA
Frequent statements of the kind “'Race' is not a thing”, “'races,' put simply, do not exist”, “'race' simply does not exist” aim to discredit Todorov's claim that a relapse to an ontology of race is at place […]
Clémence would say that his style was normcore before normcore became a thing. She had to admit that she still found him attractive.
Conservative philosophy, in other words, is, as we say now, a thing and deserves a serious listen.
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 […]Accessed via COCA
Accessed via COCA
I remember my friend Ben saying in the old days that he would never go to Costco and buy one of those big things of toilet paper […]Accessed via COCA
Accessed via COCA
I came home and ate a whole thing of ice cream.
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.
“Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.”
you poor thing
sweet young thing
she's a funny old thing, but her heart's in the right place
I met a pretty blond thing at the bar
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to promote that vision thing.
Don’t forget to have Gomez postpone that shooting thing.
it's not really my thing
Tool talk [is] not my thing.
The Internet isn't my thing. I so much rather talk on the phone.
let me do my thing; I'm here doing my thing
But I'm just a guy from Missoula, Montana, doing my thing, going down the road like everybody else.
In accordance with Old Germanic custom men came to the thing fully armed, [...]
The goðar seem both to have received payment of thing-fararkaup from those who stayed home and at the same time compensated those who went to the thing, and it cannot be seen whether they had any profit from these transactions.
All Icelandic things were skap-thing, meaning that they were governed by established procedure and met at regular legally designated intevals at predetermined meeting places.
I can screw you in front of everyone. I don't care, we have a thing going on, you know. I love you,” she said.
Are John and Jennifer a thing again? I thought they broke up.
Look at the nyash on that thing!
Related words
synonyms
(referent that can be used to refer to any entity): item, stuff (uncountable equivalent), yoke (Ireland)
(penis): see Thesaurus:penis
(personal preference): see Thesaurus:predilection
related terms
diminutives: thingy / thingie, thingo [Aus]
verb
thing (third-person singular simple present things, present participle thinging, simple past and past participle thinged)
(rare) To express as a thing; to reify.