ought - Definitions from Dictionary.com

15 results for: ought

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ought1

–auxiliary verb

1.	(used to express duty or moral obligation): Every citizen ought to help.

2.	(used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like): He ought to be punished. You ought to be ashamed.

3.	(used to express propriety, appropriateness, etc.): You ought to be home early. We ought to bring her some flowers.

4.	(used to express probability or natural consequence): That ought to be our train now.

–noun

5.	duty or obligation.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME ought, aught, OE āhte, past tense of āgan to owe

]

—Synonyms 1. See must¹.

—Usage note Ought¹ forms its negative in a number of ways. Ought not occurs in all types of speech and writing and is fully standard: The conferees ought not to waste time on protocol. Oughtn't, largely a spoken form, is found mainly in the Midland and Southern dialects of the United States, where it is almost the universal form. Hadn't ought is a common spoken form in the Northern dialect area. It is sometimes condemned in usage guides and is uncommon in educated speech except of the most informal variety. Didn't ought and shouldn't ought are considered nonstandard.
Both positive and negative forms of ought are almost always followed by the infinitive form: We ought to go now. You ought not to worry about it. Occasionally, to is omitted after the negative construction: Congress ought not adjourn without considering this bill.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
ought

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ought2

Audio Help [awt] Pronunciation Key

–noun, adverb

aught¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ought3

Audio Help [awt] Pronunciation Key

–noun

aught².

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

aught¹ also ought Audio Help   (ôt) Pronunciation Key
pron.   Anything whatever: "Neither of his parents had aught but praise for him" (Louis Auchincloss).

adv.   Archaic In any respect; at all.

[Middle English, from Old English āuht; see aiw- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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aught² also ought Audio Help (ôt) Pronunciation Key
n.

A cipher; zero.
Archaic Nothing.

[From an aught, alteration of a naught; see naught.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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ought¹ Audio Help (ôt) Pronunciation Key
aux.v.

Used to indicate obligation or duty: You ought to work harder than that.
Used to indicate advisability or prudence: You ought to wear a raincoat.
Used to indicate desirability: You ought to have been there; it was great fun.
Used to indicate probability or likelihood: She ought to finish by next week.

[Middle English oughten, to be obliged to, from oughte, owned, from Old English āhte, past tense of āgan, to possess; see aik- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: Unlike other auxiliary verbs, ought usually takes to with its accompanying verb: We ought to go. Sometimes the accompanying verb is dropped if the meaning is clear: Should we begin soon? Yes, we ought to. In questions and negative sentences, especially those with contractions, to is also sometimes omitted: Oughtn't we be going soon? This omission of to, however, is not common in written English. Like must and auxiliary need, ought to does not change to show past tense: He said we ought to get moving along. · Usages such as He hadn't ought to come and She shouldn't ought to say that are common in many varieties of American English. They should be avoided in written English, however, in favor of the more standard variant ought not to.

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ought² Audio Help (ôt) Pronunciation Key
pron. & adv.
Variant of aught¹.

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ought³ Audio Help (ôt) Pronunciation Key
n. Variant of aught².

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Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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ought⁴ Audio Help (ôt) Pronunciation Key
v. Obsolete
A past participle of owe.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ought (v.)

O.E. ahte, pt. of agan "to own, possess, owe" (see owe). As a past tense of owe, it shared in that word's evolution and meant at times in M.E. "possessed" and "under obligation to pay." It has been detached from owe since 17c., though he aught me ten pounds is recorded as active in E.Anglian dialect from c.1825. As an auxiliary verb expressing duty or obligation (c.1175, the main modern use), it represents the past subjunctive.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ought (n.)

"zero, cipher," 1844, probably a misdivision of a nought (see nought), meaning probably influenced by aught "anything" (q.v.).

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ought1 [oːt] verb — negative short form oughtn't [ˈoːtnt]

(usually with to) used to indicate duty; should
Example: You ought to help them; He oughtn't to have done that.

Arabic:	يَنْبَغي، يَجِب
Chinese (Simplified):	应该
Chinese (Traditional):	應該
Czech:	měl bych, *bys (atd.)
Danish:	burde
Dutch:	moeten
Estonian:	peaks
Finnish:	pitäisi
French:	devoir
German:	Konjunktiv von sollen
Greek:	οφείλω, πρέπει
Hungarian:	kellene, (nem) kellett volna
Icelandic:	ætti
Indonesian:	harus
Italian:	dovere

Japanese:	～するべきである
Korean:	…해야 한다
Latvian:	(izsaka vajadzību, nepieciešamību)
Lithuanian:	(man) reikėtų, turėčiau…
Norwegian:	burde, skulle
Polish:	powinno się
Portuguese (Brazil):	dever
Portuguese (Portugal):	dever
Romanian:	a trebui
Russian:	должен
Slovak:	mal by (si)
Slovenian:	morati
Spanish:	deber
Swedish:	bör, borde, skall, skulle
Turkish:	(yap)malı, (yap)sa iyi olur

ought2 [oːt] verb

used to indicate something that one could reasonably expect; should
Example: He ought to have been able to do it.

Arabic:	كانَ يَجِب أن، ينْبَغي أن يكون قَد
Chinese (Simplified):	应该
Chinese (Traditional):	應該
Czech:	měl bych, *bys (atd.)
Danish:	burde have; skulle have
Dutch:	moeten
Estonian:	peaks
Finnish:	pitäisi
French:	devoir
German:	Konjunktiv von sollen
Greek:	θα έπρεπε, θα περίμενε κανείς
Hungarian:	kellene, kellett volna
Icelandic:	ætti
Indonesian:	seharusnya
Italian:	dovere

Japanese:	～のはずである
Korean:	…하는 것이 마땅하다
Latvian:	(izsaka nožēlu, pārmetumu par kaut ko neizdarītu)
Lithuanian:	turėtų, reikėtų…
Norwegian:	burde, skulle
Polish:	powinno się
Portuguese (Brazil):	dever
Portuguese (Portugal):	dever
Romanian:	a trebui
Russian:	следовало (бы)
Slovak:	mal by (si)
Slovenian:	moral bi…
Spanish:	deber
Swedish:	borde
Turkish:	(yap)malıydı, (yap)sa iyi olurdu

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ought

Aught\, n. [OE. aught, ought, awiht, AS. [=a]wiht, [=a] ever + wiht. [root]136. See Aye ever, and Whit, Wight.] Anything; any part. [Also written ought.]

There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord has spoken. --Josh. xxi. 45

But go, my son, and see if aught be wanting. --Addison.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ought

Ought\ ([add]t), n. & adv. See Aught.

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