aught

or ought

[ awt ]

See synonyms for aught on Thesaurus.com

noun

anything whatever; any part: for aught I know.

adverb

Archaic. in any degree; at all; in any respect.

Origin of aught

First recorded before 1000; Middle English aught, ought, Old English āht, āwiht, ōwiht, equivalent to ā, ō “ever” + wiht “thing”; see wight¹

Other definitions for aught (2 of 4)

aught²

or ought

[ awt ]

noun

a cipher (0); zero.
aughts, the first decade of any century, especially the years 1900 through 1909 or 2000 through 2009.

Origin of aught

First recorded in 1820–25; from a naught, taken as an aught (cf. auger). See naught

Other definitions for aught (3 of 4)

aught³

[ awkht ]

verb (used with object)Scot.

to own; possess.
to owe (someone or something); be obligated to.

adjectiveScot.

possessed of.

noun

Archaic.
- ownership; possession.
- property; a possession.

Origin of aught

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English æht; cognate with Old High German ēht, Gothic aihts; akin to owe, own

Other definitions for aught (4 of 4)

aught⁴

[ awkht ]

adjectiveScot.

eight.
eighth.

Origin of aught

⁴

First recorded in 1100–50; Middle English aghte, aughte, variant of eighte; see eight

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use aught in a sentence

But during the aughts, the stunning actress had to fight back against being typecast.
Jessica Alba on 'Sin City,' Typecasting, and How Homophobia Pushed Her Away From the Church | Marlow Stern | August 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Hezbollah has been flying them over Lebanon since the mid-aughts.
‘Killer Drone’ Is a Lousy Hamas Fake | Dave Majumdar | July 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Early in the aughts, Wall Street whistled, and neither Clinton nor de Blasio barked.
When Dems Loved Wall Street | Lloyd Green | January 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
So when he graduated from antihero to pop stalwart in the mid-aughts, the rap world largely lost interest.
‘The Marshall Mathers LP 2’ Review: Eminem’s a Great Rapper With Nothing to Say | Rawiya Kameir | November 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The hated fur boot that rose to prominence in the early aughts is slowly creeping back into favor in the fashion world.
Have Ugg Boots Made a Tepid Return to Fashion? | Misty White Sidell | February 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

"Ay, and aughts," replied Sancho, and in replying he let the stream wash his fingers.
The Story of Don Quixote | Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
But seem like she's added aughts that a-way so long she can't think to add 'em no other way.
Sonny, A Christmas Guest | Ruth McEnery Stuart
But these young uns, thats able to stir about and help themselves, they think aughts good eno for me.
The Days of My Life | Mrs. Oliphant

British Dictionary definitions for aught (1 of 2)

aught¹

pronoun

anything at all; anything whatever (esp in the phrase for aught I know)

adverb

dialect in any least part; to any degree

Origin of aught

Old English āwiht, from ā ever, ay 1 + wiht thing; see wight 1

British Dictionary definitions for aught (2 of 2)

aught²

ought

/ (ɔːt) /

noun

a less common word for nought

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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