ought

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Verb 1.2.2 Verb 1.2.2.1 Usage notes 1.2.2.2 Synonyms 1.2.2.3 See also 1.2.2.4 Translations 1.2.3 Pronoun 1.2.4 Adverb 1.2.5 See also 1.2.6 References 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Noun 1.4 Anagrams

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔːt/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɔːt
• Homophones: aught

[edit] Etymology 1

Old English āhte, past tense of āgan (“‘own, possess’”)

[edit] Verb

ought

1. (obsolete) Simple past of owe.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 p. 182:

     witnesse Aristippus, who being urged with the affection he ought his children, as proceeding from his loynes, began to spit [...].

[edit] Verb

- (third-person singular simple present ought, present participle -, simple past -, past participle ought)

1. (auxiliary) Indicating duty or obligation.

   I ought to vote in the coming election.

2. (auxiliary) Indicating advisability or prudence.

   You ought to stand back from the edge of the platform.

3. (auxiliary) Indicating desirability.

   He ought to have seen the film; it was very good.

4. (auxiliary) Indicating likelihood or probability.

   We ought to arrive by noon if we take the motorway.

[edit] Usage notes

• Ought is an auxiliary verb; it takes a following verb as its complement. This verb may appear either as a full infinitive (such as "to go") or a bare infinitive (such as simple "go"), depending on region and speaker; the same range of meanings is possible in either case. Additionally, it's possible for ought not to take any complement, in which case a verb complement is implied, as in, "You really ought to [do so]."
• The negative of ought is either ought not (to) or oughtn't (to)

[edit] Synonyms

• should (In all senses)

[edit] See also

• ought to

[edit] Translations

[edit] Pronoun

ought

1. Alternative spelling of aught. anything

[edit] Adverb

ought (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of aught. at all, to any degree.

[edit] See also

• aught
• naught
• nought

[edit] References

• ought in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

[edit] Etymology 2

[edit] Noun

ought (plural oughts)

1. Alternative spelling of aught. cipher, zero.

[edit] Anagrams

• Anagrams of ghotu
• tough