Things
/θɪŋz/noun
Plural of thing: an object, matter, or entity considered individually or collectively.
Did you know?In Old English, a þing was not just a “thing” — it was a public gathering or court, and that same root survives in names like the Icelandic Althing, one of the world’s oldest parliaments.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*þingą
“an assembly; a meeting for legal or political business”
Old English
OE
þing
“an assembly, meeting, council, or formal legal case”
Old Norse
ON
þing
“a public assembly or parliament”
Middle English
ME
thing
“a matter, object, affair, or entity”
Modern English
English
thing
“an object, matter, entity, or unspecified item”