anything

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.i.θɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.ni.θɪŋ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.nɪ.θɪŋ/, /ˈɛ.ni.θɪŋ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.nə.θɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: an‧y‧thing

Etymology 1

From Middle English anything, enything, onything, from Late Old English aniþing, from earlier ǣniġ þing (literally “any thing”), equivalent to any +‎ thing.

Pronoun

anything

1. Any object, act, state, event, or fact whatever; a thing of any kind; something or other.

   I would not do it for anything or any ring.

   Synonym: aught

   • Template:RQ:WBsnt IvryGt
   • 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

     In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.

2. (with “as” or “like”) Expressing an indefinite comparison.
   • 1916, Edward S. Moffat, Go Forth and Find, pages 81-82:

     Perhaps it was this atmosphere of misplacedness and loneliness as much as anything which led her to speak to him one evening in early summer when the office had closed.

Derived terms

• anythingarian
• anything else
• anything goes
• as anything
• if anything
• not much of anything
• not that there's anything wrong with that

 

Translations

any thing of any kind

• American Sign Language: A@Wrist-PalmUp-A@CenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp 5@SideTrunkhigh-PalmUp-5@SideTrunkhigh-PalmUp
• Belarusian: што-не́будзь (što-njébudzʹ), нішто́ (ništó) (in negative sentences)
• Bulgarian: нещо (bg) (nešto), каквото и да е (kakvoto i da e)
• Catalan: qualsevol cosa, alguna cosa (ca), quelcom (ca), tot (ca), (in negative sentences) res (ca), re (ca)
• Chamicuro: anaskajneye
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 什麼／什么 (zh), 什么 (zh) (shénme)

• Czech: cokoliv (cs)
• Dutch: iets (nl), alles (nl), wat dan ook
• Finnish: mikä (fi), mikä tahansa
• French: n’importe quoi (fr), (in negative sentences) rien (fr)
• German: irgendetwas (de), irgendwas (de)
• Greek: οτιδήποτε (el) n (otidípote), ό,τι (el) (ó,ti)
• Ido: irgo (io)
• Irish: aon rud
• Italian: qualunque cosa, qualsiasi cosa, niente (it)
• Japanese: 何でも (ja) (なんでも, nandemo)
• Khmer: អី (ʼəy)
• Korean: 아무것도 (amugeotdo)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھیچ (hiç)

• Macedonian: било што (bilo što), што било (što bilo), што и да било (što i da bilo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay:

  Jawi: اڤ٢

  Rumi: apa-apa

• Manx: nhee erbee
• Ngazidja Comorian: (in negative sentences) ndrongoo
• Novial:
• Polish: cokolwiek (pl) n, byle co
• Portuguese: qualquer coisa f
• Romanian: orice (ro), nimic (ro)
• Russian: всё, что уго́дно (vsjo, što ugódno), всё (ru) (vsjo), что уго́дно (što ugódno)
• Scottish Gaelic: rud sam bith
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: bilošto, bilo što

• Slovak: čokoľvek
• Spanish: cualquier cosa
• Swahili: (in negative sentences) kitu (sw) class 7
• Swedish: någonting (sv), vad som helst
• Telugu: ఏమైనా (te) (ēmainā)
• Tok Pisin: samting (tpi)
• Ukrainian: що-не́будь (uk) (ščo-nébudʹ), ніщо́ (niščó) (in negative sentences), будь-що (uk) (budʹ-ščo)
• Yiddish: עפּעס (epes)

Noun

anything (plural anythings)

1. Someone or something of importance.
   • 1986, David Henry Hwang, M. Butterfly:

     How long does it take to turn you actors into good anythings?

   • 2007 May 6, Cindy Chupack, “An Ancient Coda to My 21st-Century Divorce”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     So we tried not to talk about first or second anythings until our meeting with the rabbi.

Related terms

• anybody, anyone
• anywhere
• everything
• nothing
• something
• thing

 

Translations

someone or something

• American Sign Language: A@Wrist-PalmUp-A@CenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp 5@SideTrunkhigh-PalmUp-5@SideTrunkhigh-PalmUp
• Finnish: mikä tahansa
• Greek: οτιδήποτε (el) (otidípote)
• Guerrero Amuzgo: makjo
• Japanese: 何でも (nandemo)
• Latin: quisquam (la)
• Maltese: kwalunkwe ħaġa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: qualquer coisa f
• Romanian: cineva (ro), ceva (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: dad m, càil f
• Slovene: karkoli n
• Swedish: något (sv), vad som helst, vilken som helst, vilket som helst (1)
• Yiddish: עפּעס (epes)

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English anything, enything, onything, onythynge, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English ǣniġe þinga, ǣnġi þinga (literally “by any of things”), from ǣniġe, instrumental form of ǣniġ (“any”) + þinga, genitive plural of þing (“thing”).

Adverb

anything (not comparable)

1. In any way, any extent or any degree.

   That isn't anything like a car.

   She's not anything like as strong as me.

References

• “anything”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Thingyan