Anything
/ˈɛniˌθɪŋ/noun
Any thing whatever; used to refer to an unspecified object, matter, or amount.
Did you know?“Anything” is a compound of Old English *ænig* (“any”) + *þing* (“thing”), and *thing* once meant not just an object, but an assembly or matter under discussion—so the word carries the ghost of both choice and reality.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁ey-
“to go, move; the source of the Old English ancestor of “any””
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*ainagaz
“one, single; the ancestor of Old English *ænig* (“any”)”
Old English
OE
ænig þing
“any thing; any object or matter”
Middle English
ME
any thing
“any thing; later often written as one word”
Modern English
English
anything
“any thing whatever”