Etimology
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.
noun
thought (countable and uncountable, plural thoughts)
(countable) Representation created in the mind without the use of one's faculties of vision, sound, smell, touch, or taste; an instance of thinking.
(uncountable) The operation by which mental activity arise or are manipulated; the process of thinking; the agency by which thinking is accomplished.
(uncountable) A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation or region).
(uncountable, now dialectal) Anxiety, distress.
(uncountable) The careful consideration of multiple factors; deliberation.
A very small amount, distance, etc.; a whit or jot.
Examples
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.
I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.
He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […] , the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.
The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.
Traditional eastern thought differs markedly from that of the west.
Which of you by taking thought, can adde one cubite vnto his ſtature?
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:consideration
After much thought, I have decided to stay.
'Bide the night at Heriotside,' says he. 'It's a thought out of your way, but it's a comfortable bit.'
verb
thought
simple past and past participle of think