think tank

See also: thinktank, Thinktank, think-tank, Think-tank, and Think-Tank

English

Alternative forms

• thinktank, think-tank

Etymology

From the use of think tank or think box in the 19th century to refer to the human brain.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thĭngk′ tăngk′
• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈθɪŋk ˌtæŋk/

  Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈθəŋk ˌtɛŋk/
• (Received Pronunciation, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈθɪŋk ˌtaŋk/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈt̪ɪŋk ˌʈaŋk/
• Hyphenation: think tank

Noun

think tank (plural think tanks)

2. (idiomatic) A group of people who collectively perform research and develop reports and recommendations on topics relating to strategic planning or public policy, and which is usually funded by corporate, government, or special interests.

   Synonym: think factory

   • 1974, The Think Tank (Are You Being Served?), season 2, episode 3, spoken by "Captain" Stephen Peacock (Frank Thornton):

     Why don't we take a leaf out of the government's book and have a think tank?

   • 1978, Peter Watson, War on the Mind, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, page 21:

     As 1965 drew to a close a secret research project for the United States Department of Defense was concluded by a ‘think-tank’ of seven psychologists at the American Institute for Research, in the Maryland woods outside Washington, DC.

   • 2025 November 13, David A. Fahrenthold, Ken Bensinger, quoting Charles Jacobs, “Under Fire for Tucker Carlson Remarks, Think Tank Chief Pleads Ignorance”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     “Who could believe that the head of a think tank doesn’t think?” said Charles Jacobs, the president of the Jewish Leadership Project, which resigned from a Heritage Foundation task force meant to fight antisemitism after Mr. [Kevin D.] Roberts’s video was released.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

3. (obsolete) The brain.
   • 1937, Madge Macbeth, Wings in the West, London: J. Hamilton, page 261:

     Slade’s eyes, china blue and menacing, held hers for an instant, then he turned again to her father and completed his sentence, “or else I think I know a stunt that will speed up your work . . . something that will make your think-tank bubble a bit faster. And if it don’t, then you’ll learn something about Hoppy Slade that you didn’t know before. Go to bed and sleep on that!”

Derived terms

• think-tanker, think tanker

Translations

group producing research and recommendations

• Arabic: خَلِيَّة تَفْكِير f (ḵaliyya(t) tafkīr)
• Catalan: fàbrica d'idees f, laboratori d'idees m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 智囊團 / 智囊团 (zh) (zhìnángtuán), 智庫 / 智库 (zh) (zhìkù), 思想庫 / 思想库 (zh) (sīxiǎngkù), 智囊機構 / 智囊机构 (zh) (zhìnáng jīgòu), 智囊班子 (zhìnáng bānzi), 智囊集團 / 智囊集团 (zhìnáng jítuán), 顧問班子 / 顾问班子 (gùwèn bānzi), 腦庫 / 脑库 (nǎokù)

• Danish: tænketank c
• Dutch: denktank (nl) m
• Esperanto: pensfabriko
• Finnish: ajatuspaja (fi), ajatushautomo (fi)
• French: groupe de réflexion m, laboratoire d’idées (fr) m, centre de réflexion m
• Georgian: კვლევითი ინსტიტუტი (ḳvleviti insṭiṭuṭi), კვლევითი ცენტრი (ḳvleviti cenṭri), ანალიტიკური ინსტიტუტი (analiṭiḳuri insṭiṭuṭi), ანალიტიკური ცენტრი (analiṭiḳuri cenṭri)
• German: Denkfabrik f, Thinktank (de) m
• Greek: δεξαμενή σκέψης (el) f (dexamení sképsis)
• Hungarian: agytröszt (hu)
• Icelandic: hugveita f
• Indonesian: lembaga pemikir, wadah pemikir
• Irish: meitheal mhachnaimh f
• Italian: centro studi m, centro di ricerca m, laboratorio d'idee m, istituto d'investigazione m, gabinetto strategico m, gruppo di riflessione m
• Japanese: シンクタンク (shinkutanku), 頭脳集団 (ずのうしゅうだん, zunōshūdan)
• Korean: 싱크탱크 (singkeutaengkeu), 두뇌 집단(頭腦集團) (dunoe jipdan)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ramanxane (ku) f

• Malay: kumpulan pemikir
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tenketank (no) m, tankesmie m or f

• Persian: اندیشکده (andiškade), اتاقِ فکر (otâq-e fekr)
• Polish: think tank (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: usina de ideias f, órgão de reflexão m, think tank m
• Russian: мозгово́й трест m (mozgovój trest), мозгово́й центр (ru) m (mozgovój centr), фа́брика иде́й f (fábrika idéj), аналити́ческий центр m (analitíčeskij centr)
• Spanish: tanque de pensamiento m, centro de reflexión m, vivero de ideas m, laboratorio ideal m, gabinete reflexivo m, comité pensativo m
• Swedish: tankesmedja (sv) c
• Turkish: beyin takımı (tr), think-tank
• Ukrainian: аналіти́чний це́нтр m (analitýčnyj céntr)
• Urdu: دائرہ دانش (dā'ira-e-dāniś), فکر گاہ (fikr-gāh), سوچ مرکز (soć-markaz), تحقیقی ادارہ (tahqīqī-idāra)
• Welsh: melin drafod f

See also

• brain trust, brains trust
• talk shop, talking shop

Further reading

• think tank on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English think tank.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiŋk ˈtaŋk/, /ˈfiŋk ˈtank/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Syllabification: think tank

Noun

think tank m inan

2. think tank (group producing research and recommendations)
   • 2009 June 3, Alastair McCall, David Smith, “Hindus najbogatszym Brytyjczykiem”, in Polska The Times, Warszawa: Grupa Wydawnicza Polskapresse, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Jednak obliczenia ekonomistów z think tanku Policy Exchange, oparte o prognozy wzrostu MFW, pokazują wzrost do ponad 50 proc.

     But calculations by economists from the Policy Exchange think tank, based on IMF growth forecasts, show an increase to over 50 percent.

   • 2009 October 3, Wawrzyniec Smoczyński, “Myślą i rządzą”, in Polityka, number 40 (2725), Warszawa: POLITYKA Spółdzielnia Pracy, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Jak na ironię trzeba było amerykańskich pieniędzy, by powstał pierwszy think tank badający politykę zagraniczną Unii, która narodzi się po wejściu w życie traktatu z Lizbony.

     It ironically took American money, to create the first think tank to study the Union's foreign policy, which will be born after the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.

   • 2011 February 21, Michał Wroński, “Warszawa snuje wizje, a Rybnik, Częstochowa[,] i Bielsko robią swoje”, in Dziennik Zachodni, Katowice—Bielsko-Biała—Częstochowa—Sosnowiec: "Polskapresse" Oddział "Prasa Śląska", →ISSN, →OCLC:

     A może prezydenci Bielska, Rybnika[,] i Częstochowy już tworzą własne think tanki, które poszukają sposobów na wcielenie w życie rządowych pomysłów?

     Or are the mayors of Bielsko, Rybnik[,] and Częstochowa already setting up their own think tanks, to look for ways to put government ideas into practice?

Declension

Declension of think tank

	singular	plural
nominative	think tank	think tanki
genitive	think tanku	think tanków
dative	think tankowi	think tankom
accusative	think tank	think tanki
instrumental	think tankiem	think tankami
locative	think tanku	think tankach
vocative	think tanku	think tanki

Related terms

nouns

• tank

Further reading

• think tank in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• think tank in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English think tank.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfĩ.ki ˈtẽ.ki/, /ˈfĩ.ki ˈtɐ̃.ki/, /ˈt͡ʃĩ.ki ˈtɐ̃.ki/

• Hyphenation: think tank

Noun

think tank m (plural think tanks)

2. think tank (group producing research and recommendations)

   Synonyms: usina de ideias, órgão de reflexão