Etymograph

English

thing

Thing comes from Middle English thing, from Old English þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą ‘appointed time’, from PIE *tenkóm.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tenkóm1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þingą1‘appointed time’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þing1‘court session’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þing1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thing1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611thing1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English thing
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tenkómWiktionary, English thingreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þingąWiktionary, English thing‘appointed time’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þingWiktionary, English thing‘court session’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þingWiktionary, English thing
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thingWiktionary, English thing
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611thingWiktionary, English thing. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set…”

The story

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". Modern use to refer to a Germanic assembly is likely influenced by cognates (from the same Proto-Germanic root) like Old Norse þing (‘thing’), Danish ting, Swedish ting, and Old High German ding with this meaning.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tenk-

thee, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *þing ‘thing, object’

dingus, 2 more

Today it means

noun That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thing”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tenkóm / thing

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