thank

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: thăngk IPA^(key): /θæŋk/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (æ-tensing, New York City) IPA^(key): , , (sometimes)
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /ðæŋk/, /θɛŋk/^[1]

• Rhymes: -æŋk

From Middle English thank (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; attractiveness; commendation, praise; God’s grace; goodwill; merit, reward; mind, thought”),^[2] from Old English þanc (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; favour, grace; mind, thought; pleasure, satisfaction”), from Proto-Germanic *þankaz (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; mind, thought; remembrance”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to perceive; to think”).^[3] Doublet of think and thought.

thank (plural thanks)

1. (obsolete) singular of thanks (“an expression of appreciation or gratitude; grateful feelings or thoughts; favour, goodwill, graciousness”)
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Luke 6:33:

     If ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.

   • 1644, J M, The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: , 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, book:

     What great thank, then, if any man, reputed wise and constant, will neither do, nor permit others under his charge to do, that which he approves not, especially in matter of sin?

From Middle English thanken, thankien (“to express gratitude, give thanks; to congratulate, rejoice with, or wish joy to; to extol, praise; to hold responsible for”),^[4] from Old English þancian, þoncian (“to thank”), from Proto-West Germanic *þankōn, from Proto-Germanic *þankōną (“to thank”), from *þankaz (see etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming infinitives of verbs from nouns).^[5]

thank (third-person singular simple present thanks, present participle thanking, simple past and past participle thanked)

1. (transitive)
   1. To express appreciation or gratitude toward (someone or something).

      She thanked him for the lift.

      • 1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Diogenes the Cynike”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, , London: Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book I, folio 106, recto, paragraph 190:

        aſt thou no ſhame to deſpiſe that perſone, to whom onely and no man els, thou art bounde to thanke, euen for this veraie pointe, that thou ſetteſt ſo moche by thy peinted ſheathe?

      • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare,   he Merrie Wiues of Windsor.  (First Quarto), London: T C for Arthur Ihonson, , published 1602, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature B, recto:

        I can eate no meate, I thanke you.

      • 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. , London: J Newbery, , →OCLC, page 5:

        The naked Negro, panting at the line, / Baſks in the glare, or ſtems the tepid vvave, / And thanks his Gods for all the good they gave.

      • 1793, Robert Burns, “A Dedication to G H Esq”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: T Cadell, , and William Creech, , published 1793, →OCLC, page 66:

        ae laigh I need na bovv, / For, Lord be thankit, I can plough; / And vvhen I dovvna yoke a naig, / Then, Lord be thankit, I can beg; […]

      • 1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series,  (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 310:

        That his Majesty has good subjects in England, my Lord Duke, he is bound to thank God and the laws—that he has subjects in Scotland, I think he may thank God and the sword.

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 70:

        She had at once the air of good fellowship and the dignity of a woman, and she seemed to understand Farrar and me perfectly. […] By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.

      • 1900 May 17, L Frank Baum, “The Good Witch Grants Dorothy’s Wish”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo M Hill Co., →OCLC, page 256:

        The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion now thanked the Good Witch earnestly for her kindness, […]

      • 1913, Joseph C Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 97:

        I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

      • 2023 November 15, Ian Prosser, quoting Stefanie Foster, “A Healthy Person is a More Productive Person”, in Rail, number 996, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32:

        We were able to transport goods and critical workers all the way through the pandemic, and at the time we had the Prime Minister thanking everyone for what was achieved.

   2. In the future tense in the form one will thank someone to do something, chiefly expressing a command or criticism: to request that (someone) do something.

      I’ll thank you not to smoke in my house!

      • 1844, “Art. IV.—The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, including His Correspondence, and Selections from the Anecdote Book, Written by Himself. By Horace Twiss, Esq., One of Her Majesty’s Counsel. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1844. [book review]”, in John Taylor Coleridge, editor, The Quarterly Review, volume LXXIV, number CXLVII, London: John Murray, , →OCLC, page 104:

        Our readers would not thank us for going into the badgerings which had for some time annoyed the chancellor on the subject of arrears in his court.

   3. (rare) To express appreciation or gratitude for (something).
   4. (figurative)
      1. To respond to (someone) out of, or as if out of, appreciation or gratitude.
         • 1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Kenilworth; a Romance. , volume III, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, ; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 11–12:

           I should summon my lord from the Queen's royal presence to do your business, should I?—I were like to be thanked with a horse-whip.

      2. Chiefly followed by for: to credit or hold (someone or something) responsible, especially for something negative; to blame.

         We can thank global warming for this freak weather.

2. (intransitive, obsolete) To express gratitude.

From Middle English thanken, from Old English þancian, þoncian (“to thank, give thanks”).

thank (third-person singular simple present thanks, present participle thankin, simple past thankit, past participle thankit)

1. to thank