different between thing vs happening

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)

1. 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...
2. A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
3. An individual object or distinct entity.
4. (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.

5. (law)
   1. Whatever can be owned.
   2. Corporeal object.
6. (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 […] '

7. (in the plural) Clothes, possessions or equipment.

8. (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.

9. (informal) A problem, dilemma, or complicating factor.

10. (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.”

11. A living being or creature.

12. That which matters; the crux.

13. 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)

14. (informal) That which is favoured; personal preference. (Used in possessive constructions.)
15. (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.

16. (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)

1. (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

1. 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)

1. 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

1. tree
2. wood
3. firewood

References

• Matisoff, James A., Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman, University of California Press.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þing?.

Noun

thing n

1. thing, object
2. case, matter, issue

Inflection

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: dinc
  • Dutch: ding
    • Afrikaans: ding
  • Limburgish: dink, ding

Further reading

• “think”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old High German

Alternative forms

• ding, dink

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þing?

Noun

thing n

1. thing, object
2. 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

1. thing, object
2. matter, case

Declension

Descendants

• Middle Low German: dink
  • German Low German: Ding
  • Plautdietsch: Dinkj

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hæp?n??/, /?hæpn??/, [hæpn?n]

Etymology 1

From Middle English *happenynge, *happnynge, equivalent to happen +? -ing.

Verb

happening

1. present participle of happen

Adjective

happening (comparative more happening, superlative most happening)

1. (slang, of a place) Busy, lively; vibrant, dynamic; fashionable.

   This is a happening place tonight!

   • 2005, Wendy Lawton, Less is More, page 13,

     “ […] San Francisco is not exactly the most happening place, you know.”

   • 2006, Eliot Greenspan, Neil E. Schlecht, Frommer's Cuba, page 165,

     When the show ends, the circular, sunken floor is one of the more happening dance clubs in town.

   • 2011, Bob Sehlinger, Menasha Ridge, Len Testa, The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2012, page 157,

     They're a little noisy if you open your balcony door but otherwise offer a glimpse of one of Disney World's more happening places.

2. (slang, of a person or product) Trendy, up-to-the-minute.

   He is a real happening guy.

   • 1987 November 16, Steve Gibson, Desktop Publishing, 386-Based Machines, ‘Happening’ Trends at Comdex, InfoWorld, page 42,

     Every show has its hottest, most happening trends. If I were to isolate just one for hardware and one for software, this year's hot hardware would be the 386 machines, and the happening software would be desktop publishing.

   • 2009, Nicola Williams, Oliver Berry, Steve Fallon, France, Lonely Planet, page 883,

     Going strong since 2006, this ephemeral nightclub (it's open only for 50 nights each year, in July and August) has become the hottest ticket in DJ land, a combination of the most happening names in music and its spectacular setting at the heart of the Palais des Festivals.

   • 2011, Nicholas Gill, Christie Pashby, Kristina Schreck, Frommer's Chile & Easter Island, unnumbered page,

     San Antonio is the newest, tiniest, and most “happening” wine appellation in Chile, with just four boutique wineries that focus on quality, not quantity, producing fine pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, and syrah.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English happenyng, equivalent to happen +? -ing.

Noun

happening (plural happenings)

1. Something that happens.
2. A spontaneous or improvised event, especially one that involves audience participation.

Translations

See also

• happening on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Finnish

Noun

happening

1. happening (event)

Declension

Related terms

• häppeninki

French

Noun

happening m (plural happenings)

1. happening

Spanish

Noun

happening m (plural happenings)

1. happening