ought
/oːt/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.35 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "There was a certayne lender / which had two detters / the one ought five hondred pence / and the other fifty."
- "[…]witneſſe Ariſtippus, who being vrged with the affection he ought his children, as proceeding from his loynes, began to ſpeake and ſpit[…]."
- "I ought to vote in the coming election."
- "You ought to always stand back from the edge of the platform."
- "Do you think we ought to leave now?"
- "He ought to read the book; it was very good."
Etymology
From Middle English oughte, aughte, aȝte, ahte, from Old English āhte, first and third person singular past tense of Old English āgan (“to own, possess”), equivalent to owe + -t. Cognate with Sanskrit ईश्वर (īśvará, “capable of, liable”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /oːt/
- British English: /ɔːt/