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methinks. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
methinks, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
methinks in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
methinks you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Old English mē þynceþ (from þyncan (“to seem”)); equivalent to me (“object pronoun”) + think (“to seem”). Compare synonymous German mir/mich dünkt, Old Norse mér þykkir (Icelandic mér þykir). Compare meseems.
Pronunciation
Contraction
methinks (past tense methought)
- (sometimes archaic or humorous) It seems to me.
c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :methinks the truth should live from age to age,
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
1862 February, George Augustus Sala, “The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous; a Narrative in Plain English, Chapter the Fourth. My Grandmother Dies, and I am Left Alone, without So Much as a Name.”, in George Augustus Sala, editor, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume IV, London: Office of "Temple Bar," 122 Fleet Street; Ward and Lock, 158 Fleet Street; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers, →OCLC, page 304:And then methought my dream changed, and two Great Giants with heading-axes came striding over the bed,
Usage notes
In Early Modern English, used at least 150 times by William Shakespeare; in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer, me thinketh; and in Old English by Alfred the Great, Old English mē þynceþ.
Translations
it seems to me
- Arabic: يَبْدُو لِي (yabdū lī)
- Azerbaijani: mənə elə gəlir
- Bulgarian: струва ми се (struva mi se)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 據我看來 / 据我看来 (jù wǒ kàn lái), 依我看來 / 依我看来 (yī wǒ kàn lái), 我認為 / 我认为 (wǒ rènwéi)
- Czech: mně se zdá
- Dutch: me dunkt
- Estonian: mulle tundub, minu meelest
- Finnish: minusta tuntuu, mielestäni
- French: il me semble, il m'apparaît (unusual, conveys the archaic meaning), m'est avis (fr)
- Georgian: ალბათ (albat)
- German: mich dünkt, (rarer) mir dünkt
- Greek: μου φαίνεται (el) (mou faínetai)
- Hebrew: חושבני m (khoshváni) (flowery), חושבתני f (khoshvátni) (flowery)
- Hungarian: úgy tűnik, olybá tűnik (archaic or humorous)
- Icelandic: mér virðist, mér sýnist
- Italian: mi sembra, mi pare
- Japanese: 私が思うに (watashi ga omou ni)
- Kazakh: меніңше (menıñşe)
- Lithuanian: manding
- Low German:
- German Low German: mi dücht, mi dünkt
- Macedonian: ми се чи́ни (mi se číni)
- Norwegian: det synes meg
- Polish: moim zdaniem (pl), na moje, na mój rozum, po mojemu (pl), w moich oczach (pl), w moim odczuciu, w moim przekonaniu, w mojej opinii, według mnie
- Portuguese: me parece (pt), parece-me
- Romanian: îmi pare
- Russian: мне ка́жется (mne kážetsja), кажи́сь (ru) (kažísʹ), похо́же (ru) (poxóže), похо́ду (ru) (poxódu), сдаётся (ru) (sdajótsja), по-мо́ему (ru) (po-mójemu)
- Serbo-Croatian: čini mi se
- Slovak: zdá sa mi
- Slovene: zdi se mi
- Spanish: me parece (es)
- Swedish: det tycks mig, det synes mig, mig tyckes
- Tamil: எனக்கு ... என்று தோன்றுது (eṉakku ... eṉṟu tōṉṟutu)
- Turkish: sanırım ki, galiba (tr)
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See also
References