methinks

English

Alternative forms

methinketh, me thinketh, me thinks, mythinks, my thinks

Etymology

From Middle English me thinketh from Old English mē þynceþ (from þyncan (“to seem”)); equivalent to me (indirect object pronoun, as in “show me it”) + think (“to seem”). Compare synonymous Flemish me dunkt, German mir/mich dünkt, Old Norse mér þykkir (Icelandic mér þykir). Compare meseems.

Pronunciation

enPR: mĭ-thĭngks′
(UK) IPA^(key): /mɪˈθɪŋks/
(General American) IPA^(key): /miˈθɪŋks/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪŋks

Contraction

methinks (past tense methought)

(sometimes archaic or humorous) It seems to me.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
  methinks the truth should live from age to age,
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
- 1862 February, George Augustus [Henry] Sala, “The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous; a Narrative in Plain English, […] Chapter the Fourth. My Grandmother Dies, and I am Left Alone, without So Much as a Name.”, in George Augustus Sala, editor, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume IV, London: Office of "Temple Bar," 122 Fleet Street; Ward and Lock, 158 Fleet Street; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers, →OCLC, page 304:
  And then methought my dream changed, and two Great Giants with heading-axes came striding over the bed, […]
- 2003, “Bringing Up Buster”, in Arrested Development:
  Dr. Tobias Funke: Methinks a cupid I shall play.

Usage notes

In Early Modern English, used at least 150 times by William Shakespeare; in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer, me thinketh; and in Old English by Alfred the Great, Old English mē þynceþ.

Derived terms

methinks the lady doth protest too much

Translations

it seems to me

Arabic: يَبْدُو لِي (yabdū lī)
Asturian: peme
Azerbaijani: mənə elə gəlir
Bulgarian: струва ми се (struva mi se)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 據我看來 / 据我看来 (jù wǒ kàn lái), 依我看來 / 依我看来 (yī wǒ kàn lái), 我認為 / 我认为 (wǒ rènwéi)
Czech: mně se zdá
Dutch: me dunkt
Estonian: mulle tundub, minu meelest
Finnish: minusta tuntuu, mielestäni
French: il me semble, il m'apparaît (unusual, conveys the archaic meaning), m'est avis (fr)
Georgian: ალბათ (albat)
German: mich dünkt, (rarer) mir dünkt
Greek: μου φαίνεται (el) (mou faínetai)
Hebrew: חושבני m (khoshváni) (flowery), חושבתני f (khoshvátni) (flowery)
Hungarian: úgy tűnik, olybá tűnik (archaic or humorous)
Icelandic: mér virðist, mér sýnist
Italian: mi sembra, mi pare
Japanese: 私が思うに (watashi ga omou ni)
Kazakh: меніңше (menıñşe)
Lithuanian: manding
Low German:
German Low German: mi dücht, mi dünkt
Macedonian: ми се чи́ни (mi se číni)
Norwegian: det synes meg
Polish: moim zdaniem (pl), na moje, na mój rozum, po mojemu (pl), w moich oczach (pl), w moim odczuciu, w moim przekonaniu, w mojej opinii, według mnie
Portuguese: me parece (pt), parece-me
Romanian: îmi pare
Russian: мне ка́жется (mne kážetsja), кажи́сь (ru) (kažísʹ), похо́же (ru) (poxóže), похо́ду (ru) (poxódu), сдаётся (ru) (sdajótsja), по-мо́ему (ru) (po-mójemu)
Serbo-Croatian: čini mi se
Slovak: zdá sa mi
Slovene: zdi se mi
Spanish: me parece (es)
Swedish: det tycks mig, det synes mig, mig tyckes
Tamil: எனக்கு ... என்று தோன்றுது (eṉakku ... eṉṟu tōṉṟutu)
Turkish: sanırım ki, galiba, bana öyle gelir ki

References

John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “methinks”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.