Think , n. Act of thinking; a thought. [Obs. or
Colloq.]
Think , v. t. 1. To
conceive; to imagine.
Charity . . . thinketh no
evil.
1 Cor.
xiii. 4,5. 2. To plan or design; to plot; to compass. [Obs.]
So little womanhood
And natural goodness, as to think the death
Of her own son.
Beau. &
Fl. 3. To believe; to consider; to esteem.
Nor think superfluous other's aid.
Milton.
To think much, to esteem a great matter; to grudge. [Obs.] "[He] thought not much to clothe his
enemies." Milton. -- To think scorn. (a) To disdain. [Obs.] "He thought scorn to lay hands on
Mordecai alone." Esther iii. 6. (b) To feel indignation.
[Obs.]
Think (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thought (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Thinking.]
[OE. thinken, properly, to seem, from AS.
þyncean (cf. Methinks), but confounded with OE.
thenken to think, fr. AS. þencean (imp. þōhte); akin to D.
denken, dunken, OS. thenkian,
thunkian, G. denken, dünken, Icel. þekkja to perceive, to know, þykkja to seem, Goth.
þagkjan, þaggkjan, to think, þygkjan to think, to seem, OL. tongere to know. Cf. Thank, Thought.]
1. To seem
or appear; - - used chiefly in the expressions methinketh or
methinks, and methought.
&fist; These are genuine Anglo-Saxon expressions, equivalent to it seems to me, it seemed to me. In these expressions me is in the dative case.
2. To employ any of
the intellectual powers
except that of simple perception through the senses; to exercise the higher intellectual faculties.
For that I am
I know, because I think.
Dryden. 3. Specifically: -- (a) To call anything to mind; to remember; as, I would have
sent the books, but I did not think of it.
Well thought upon; I have it here.
Shak. (b) To reflect upon any subject; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to consider; to deliberate.
And when he
thought thereon,
he wept.
Mark xiv. 72. He thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room
where to bestow my fruits?
Luke xii. 17. (c) To form an opinion by reasoning; to judge; to conclude; to believe; as, I
think it will rain to-morrow.
Let them marry to whom
they think best.
Num. xxxvi. 6.
(d) To purpose; to intend; to design; to mean.
I
thought to promote thee unto great honor.
Num. xxiv. 11.
Thou thought'st to help me.
Shak. (e) To presume; to venture.
Think not
to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.
Matt. iii. 9. &fist;
To think, in a philosophical use as yet somewhat limited,
designates the higher intellectual acts, the acts
preëminently rational;
to judge; to
compare; to reason. Thinking is employed by Hamilton as "comprehending all our collective energies." It is defined by
Mansel as "the act of knowing or judging by means of concepts,"by Lotze as "the
reaction of the mind on the material supplied by external influences." See Thought.
To think better of. See under Better. -- To think much of, or To
think well of, to hold in esteem; to esteem highly.
Syn. -- To expect; guess; cogitate; reflect; ponder; contemplate; meditate; muse; imagine; suppose; believe. See Expect, Guess.