What does aught mean?

Definitions for aught
ɔtaught

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word aught.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. nothing, nil, nix, nada, null, aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg, naught, zero, zilch, zip, zipponoun

    a quantity of no importance

    "it looked like nothing I had ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Aughtpronoun.

    Any thing.

    Etymology: auht, awht, Saxon.

    If I can do it,
    By aught that I can speak in his dispraise,
    She shall not long continue love to him. William Shakespeare, T. G. of Verona.

    They may, for aught I know, obtain such substances as may induce the chymists to entertain other thoughts. Boyle.

    But go, my son, and see if aught be wanting
    Among thy father’s friends. Joseph Addison, Cato.

Wikipedia

  1. aught

    "Zero" is the usual name for the number 0 in English. In British English "nought" is also used. In American English "naught" is used occasionally for zero, but (as with British English) "naught" is more often used as an archaic word for nothing. "Nil", "love", and "duck" are used by different sports for scores of zero. There is a need to maintain an explicit distinction between digit zero and letter O, which, because they are both usually represented in English orthography (and indeed most orthographies that use Latin script and Arabic numerals) with a simple circle or oval, have a centuries-long history of being frequently conflated. However, in spoken English, the number 0 is often read as the letter "o" ("oh"). For example, when dictating a telephone number, the series of digits "1070" may be spoken as "one zero seven zero" or as "one oh seven oh", even though the letter "O" on the telephone keypad in fact corresponds to the digit 6. In certain contexts, zero and nothing are interchangeable, as is "null". Sporting terms are sometimes used as slang terms for zero, as are "nada", "zilch" and "zip".

ChatGPT

  1. aught

    Aught is an old-fashioned term originally used to represent zero, or "nothing." However, it has also been used as a pronoun to express "anything" or "all." So, its definition can vary depending on the context.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Aughtnoun

    alt. of Aucht

  2. Aughtnoun

    anything; any part

  3. Aughtadverb

    at all; in any degree

  4. Etymology: [OE. aught, ought, awiht, AS. wiht, ever + wiht. 136. See Aye ever, and Whit, Wight.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Aught

    awt, n. a whit: ought: anything: a part. [A.S. á-wiht, contr. to áht, whence ōht, ōght, and ought. Shakespeare, Milton, and Pope use ought and aught without distinction. Awiht is from á, ó, ever, and wiht, creature, a wight, a thing.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of aught in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of aught in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of aught in a Sentence

  1. Eric Hoffer:

    The real haves are they who can acquire freedom, self-confidence, and even riches without depriving others of them. They acquire all of these by developing and applying their potentialities. On the other hand, the real have nots are they who cannot have aught except by depriving others of it. They can feel free only by diminishing the freedom of others, self-confident by spreading fear and dependence among others, and rich by making others poor.

  2. William Shakespeare:

    Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?

  3. William Shakespeare:

    For aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth.

  4. John Milton:

    If it come to prohibiting, there is aught more likely to be prohibited than truth itself.

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Translations for aught

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"aught." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/aught>.

Discuss these aught definitions with the community:

1 Comment
  • Francisco Kleinhenn
    Francisco Kleinhenn
    A clear minded and intelligent person aught never to waste his time with the tortuous and perfidious usages of this word
    LikeReply 16 years ago

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someone who sees an event and reports what happened
A mediocrity
B witness
C model
D value

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