different between thing vs form
thing
English
Alternative forms
- thang (slang, pronunciation spelling, usually used to denote a known fad or popular activity)
- thin' (informal, pronunciation spelling)
- thinge (archaic)
- thynge (obsolete)
- ting (Caribbean creoles, MLE)
Etymology
From Middle English thing, from Old English þing, from Proto-Germanic *þing?; compare West Frisian ding, Low German Ding, Dutch ding, German Ding, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian ting. 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 r?s, 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”), Swedish ting, and Old High German ding with this meaning.
Pronunciation
- enPR: th?ng, IPA(key): /???/
- Rhymes: -??
Noun
thing (plural things)
- That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.
- 1611 — King James Version of the Bible, Luke 1:1
- Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...
- 1611 — King James Version of the Bible, Luke 1:1
- A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
- An individual object or distinct entity.
- (informal) A genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief). [from 20th c.]
- 2014, Marianna Papastephanou, Torill Strand, Anne Pirrie, Philosophy as a Lived Experience
- Frequent statements of the kind “'Race' is not a thing”, “'races,' put simply, do not exist”, “'race' (as each essay subtly shows) simply does not exist” aim to discredit Todorov's claim that a relapse to an ontology of race is at place […]
- 2019, Adam Gopnik, A Thousand Small Sanities, Riverrun 2019, p. 88:
- Conservative philosophy, in other words, is, as we say now, a thing and deserves a serious listen.
- 2014, Marianna Papastephanou, Torill Strand, Anne Pirrie, Philosophy as a Lived Experience
- (law)
- Whatever can be owned.
- Corporeal object.
- (somewhat dated, with the) The latest fad or fashion.
- 1802, Anne Ormsby, "Memoirs of a Family in Swisserland", quoted in The Monthly Review, Or, Literary Journal page 45:
- 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.
- 2002, Roger Nichols, The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917-1929, Univ of California Press (?ISBN)
- After a slow start it became the thing to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi […] '
- 1802, Anne Ormsby, "Memoirs of a Family in Swisserland", quoted in The Monthly Review, Or, Literary Journal page 45:
- (in the plural) Clothes, possessions or equipment.
- (informal) A unit or container, usually containing edible goods.
- 2011, Juliette Fay, Deep Down True: A Novel, Penguin (?ISBN)
- I came home and ate a whole thing of ice cream.
- 2011, Juliette Fay, Deep Down True: A Novel, Penguin (?ISBN)
- (informal) A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor.
- (slang) A penis.
- 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, 50th anniversary edition (2009), p. 126:
- “Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.”
- 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, 50th anniversary edition (2009), p. 126:
- A living being or creature.
- That which matters; the crux.
- Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent.
- 1914, Eugene Gladstone O'Neill, The Movie Man [playscript]:
- Don’t forget to have Gomez postpone that shooting thing. (in reference to the execution of Fernandez)
- 1914, Eugene Gladstone O'Neill, The Movie Man [playscript]:
- (informal) That which is favoured; personal preference. (Used in possessive constructions.)
- (chiefly historical) A public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.
- 1974, Jón Jóhannesson, A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth: Íslendinga Saga, translated by Haraldur Bessason, page 46:
- In accordance with Old Germanic custom men came to the thing fully armed, [...]
- 1974, Jakob Benediktsson, Landnám og upphaf allsherjarríkis, in Saga Íslands, quoted in 1988 by Jesse L. Byock in Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power, page 85:
- 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.
- 1988, Jesse L. Byock, Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power, page 59:
- 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.
- 1974, Jón Jóhannesson, A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth: Íslendinga Saga, translated by Haraldur Bessason, page 46:
- (informal) A romantic relationship.
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
Derived terms
Related terms
- diminutives: thingy / thingie, thingo [Aus]
Translations
Further reading
- thing in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- thing in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
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.
Anagrams
- Night, night
Khumi Chin
Etymology
From Proto-Kuki-Chin *thi?, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *si?. Cognates include Mizo thing and Zou sing.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /t???/
Noun
thing
- firewood
References
- K. E. Herr (2011) The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin?[1], Payap University, page 44
Middle English
Alternative forms
- thinge, ðhing
Etymology
From Old English þing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing.
Noun
thing (plural thinges)
- thing
Descendants
- English: thing
- Scots: thing, ting, hing
- Yola: dhing
References
- “thing, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Mizo
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *si?. Akin to Khumi Chin thing.
Noun
thing
- tree
- wood
- firewood
References
- Matisoff, James A., Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman, University of California Press.
Old Dutch
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *þing?.
Noun
thing n
- thing, object
- case, matter, issue
Inflection
Descendants
- Middle Dutch: dinc
- Dutch: ding
- Afrikaans: ding
- Limburgish: dink, ding
- Dutch: ding
Further reading
- “think”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
Old High German
Alternative forms
- ding, dink
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *þing?
Noun
thing n
- thing, object
- matter, case
Declension
Descendants
- Middle High German: ding
- Cimbrian: ding
- German: Ding
- Luxembourgish: Déngen
- Pennsylvania German: Ding
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *þing. Compare Old Dutch thing, Old Frisian thing, Old English þing, Old High German ding, Old Norse þing.
Noun
thing n
- thing, object
- matter, case
Declension
Descendants
- Middle Low German: dink
- German Low German: Ding
- Plautdietsch: Dinkj
thing From the web:
- what things are blue
- what things are purple
- what things happened in 2020
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- what things are orange
- what things have gluten
- what things can be recycled
- what things are magnetic
form
English
Alternative forms
- forme (rare or archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin f?rma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /f??m/
- (General American) IPA(key): /f??m/
- Hyphenation: form
- Rhymes: -??(?)m
Noun
form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)
- (heading, physical) To do with shape.
- The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.
- Regularity, beauty, or elegance.
- (philosophy) The inherent nature of an object; that which the mind itself contributes as the condition of knowing; that in which the essence of a thing consists.
- Characteristics not involving atomic components. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (dated) A long bench with no back.
- 1981, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 10:
- I can see the old schoolroom yet: the broken-down desks and the worn-out forms with knots in that got stuck into your backside […].
- 2010, Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography:
- The prefect grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me down a passageway, and down another and finally through a door that led into a long, low dining-room crowded with loudly breakfasting boys sitting on long, shiny oak forms, as benches used to be called.
- 1981, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 10:
- (fine arts) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.
- (crystallography) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.
- The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
- (social) To do with structure or procedure.
- An order of doing things, as in religious ritual.
- Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula.
- Those whom form of laws / Condemned to die.
- Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system.
- Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality.
- (archaic) A class or rank in society.
- ladies of a high form
- (Britain) A criminal record; loosely, past history (in a given area).
- 2011, Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 4 May:
- It's fair to say she has form on this: she has criticised David Cameron's proposal to create all-women shortlists for prospective MPs, tried to ban women wearing high heels at work as the resulting pain made them take time off work, and tried to reduce the point at which an abortion can take place from 24 to 21 weeks.
- 2011, Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 4 May:
- Level of performance.
- The team's form has been poor this year.
- The orchestra was on top form this evening.
- (Britain, education) A class or year of school pupils (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the year, as in sixth form).
- 1928, George Bickerstaff, The mayor, and other folk
- One other day after afternoon school, Mr. Percival came behind me and put his hand on me. "Let me see, what's your name? Which form are you in? […]"
- 1976, Ronald King, School and college: studies of post-sixteen education
- From the sixth form will come the scholars and the administrators.
- 1928, George Bickerstaff, The mayor, and other folk
- A blank document or template to be filled in by the user.
- A specimen document to be copied or imitated.
- (grammar) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech.
- The den or home of a hare.
- , I.iii.1.2:
- The Egyptians therefore in their hieroglyphics expressed a melancholy man by a hare sitting in her form, as being a most timorous and solitary creature.
- 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p.275:
- Hares left their snug ‘forms’ in the cold grass.
- , I.iii.1.2:
- (computing, programming) A window or dialogue box.
- 1998, Gary Cornell, Visual Basic 6 from the ground up (p.426)
- While it is quite amazing how much one can do with Visual Basic with the code attached to a single form, to take full advantage of VB you'll need to start using multiple forms and having the code on all the forms in your project interact.
- 2010, Neil Smyth, C# Essentials
- Throughout this chapter we will work with a form in a new project.
- 1998, Gary Cornell, Visual Basic 6 from the ground up (p.426)
- (taxonomy) An infraspecific rank.
- (printing, dated) The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.
- (geometry) A quantic.
- (sports, fitness) A specific way of performing a movement.
Synonyms
- (visible structure of a thing or person): shape; see also Thesaurus:shape
- (visible structure of a person): figure; see also Thesaurus:physique
- (thing that gives shape to other things): cast, cookie cutter, mold, pattern
- (mode of construction): configuration, makeup; see also Thesaurus:composition
- (blank document): formular
- (pre-collegiate level): grade
- (biology): f.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Verb
form (third-person singular simple present forms, present participle forming, simple past and past participle formed)
- (transitive) To assume (a certain shape or visible structure).
- (transitive) To give (a shape or visible structure) to a thing or person.
- (intransitive) To take shape.
- To put together or bring into being; assemble.
- (transitive, linguistics) To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.
- (transitive) To constitute, to compose, to make up.
- 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace
- the diplomatic politicians […] who formed by far the majority
- 1948 May, Stanley Pashko, “The Biggest Family”, in Boys' Life, Volume 38, Number 5, Boy Scouts of America, ISSN 0006-8608, p.10:
- Insects form the biggest family group in nature's kingdom, and also the oldest.
- 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace
- To mould or model by instruction or discipline.
- 1731–1735, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays
- 'Tis education forms the common mind.
- Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind.
- 1731–1735, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays
- To provide (a hare) with a form.
- The melancholy hare is formed in brakes and briers.
- (electrical, historical, transitive) To treat (plates) to prepare them for introduction into a storage battery, causing one plate to be composed more or less of spongy lead, and the other of lead peroxide. This was formerly done by repeated slow alternations of the charging current, but later the plates or grids were coated or filled, one with a paste of red lead and the other with litharge, introduced into the cell, and formed by a direct charging current.
Synonyms
- (give shape): beshape, transmogrify; see also Thesaurus:form
- (take shape): take form, take shape; see also Thesaurus:come into being
- (constitute): compose, make up; see also Thesaurus:compose
Related terms
- format
- formation
Translations
Further reading
- form in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- form in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- MoRF, from
Danish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin f?rma (“shape, form”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /f?rm/, [f???m]
Noun
form c (singular definite formen, plural indefinite former)
- form
- shape
Declension
Noun
form c (singular definite formen, plural indefinite forme)
- mould
- tin (a metal pan used for baking, roasting, etc.)
Declension
Further reading
- “form” in Den Danske Ordbog
- form on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
German
Verb
form
- singular imperative of formen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of formen
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Old Norse form, from Latin forma (“form; figure, shape, appearance”), from f?rma (“form, figure, shape, appearance”) with an unknown descent, perhaps from some Etruscan *morma (*morma), connected by some with Ancient Greek ????? (morph?, “shape, form, appearance”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin.
Noun
form f or m (definite singular forma or formen, indefinite plural former, definite plural formene)
- form
- shape
- a mould (e.g. for cast products)
Derived terms
Related terms
- forme
Etymology 2
Verb
form
- imperative of forme
References
- “form” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin forma.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /f?rm/
Noun
form f (definite singular forma, indefinite plural former, definite plural formene)
- form
- shape
- a mould (e.g. for cast products)
Derived terms
Related terms
- -forma
- forme
References
- “form” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Swedish forma, borrowed from Latin forma.
Pronunciation
Noun
form c
- a form, a shape
- a form, a mold, a dish, a tray, a tin, a piece of ovenware
Declension
Related terms
- shape
- cirkelform
- ellipsform
- forma
- mold
- formfranska
- formgjuta
- gjutform
- kakform
- knäckform
- pajform
Anagrams
- fr.o.m., from
Turkish
Etymology
From French forme.
Noun
form (definite accusative formu, plural formlar)
- form
Declension
form From the web:
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- what formed the grand canyon
- what forms the backbone of dna
- what forms at a divergent boundary
- what form of art is this an example of where is this artist from
- what form of government is russia
- what format does kindle use
- what format are iphone photos
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