# aught

Pronunciation: say "AWT" US /ɔt/, UK /ɔːt/

## Noun

1. The digit zero, especially as spoken in dates and strings of single digits.
   - Simple: The number zero, especially when you say a number out loud one digit at a time.
   - _The pilot reported the time over the radio as ten aught five._
   - _Collectors still ask for a thirty aught six rifle by name._
2. The number zero; nothing in quantity or value.
   - Simple: Zero, or nothing at all in number or amount.
   - _The home team's score stayed at aught for the entire first half._
   - _Her savings had dwindled to aught by the end of the month._
4. Importance or consequence, occurring in the regional phrase "of aught." *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Importance or value, used in phrases like "of aught."
   - _She doubted whether his many promises were of aught in the end._
   - _The committee settled nothing of aught during the whole afternoon._
5. Estimation; one's assessment or regard of a thing's worth. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Someone's opinion of how good or valuable something is.
   - _By his aught, the harvest would fall well short that year._
   - _Their aught of the stranger softened once he proved himself in the field._

## Pronoun

3. Anything whatsoever; any part or thing at all. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Anything at all, even the smallest thing.
   - _Should you hear aught of the missing ship, send word at once._
   - _He never asked aught of his neighbors, however hard the winter grew._

## Noun

6. The smallest part or particle of something; a whit or iota. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The smallest bit or amount of something.
   - _His warnings counted for not an aught with the stubborn crew._
   - _They refused to yield an aught of the disputed pasture._
10. Esteem; the respect or regard in which someone is held. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Respect or high regard for a person.
   - _Held in high aught by all who knew her, she ran the household with ease._
   - _His broken promises cost him the aught of the whole parish._

## Adverb

7. At all; in any degree or respect. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: At all, even a little.
   - _If the grim news troubled him aught, he gave no sign of it._
   - _Was she aught the wiser after his long and tangled explanation?_

## Verb

8. Obsolete or dialectal form of ought. *(obsolete)* — Obsolete or dialectal form of ought
   - Simple: An old or dialect form of ought, meaning should. You may see it in old books, but people today say ought.

## Numeral

9. Obsolete or dialectal form of eight. *(obsolete)* — Obsolete or dialectal form of eight.
   - Simple: An old or dialect form of eight. You may see it in old books, but people today say eight.

## Origin

**Meanings 3, 6–7** — From Middle English aught or ought, from Old English āht or āwiht, formed from ā ("always, ever") plus wiht ("thing, creature").
**Meanings 1–2** — A rebracketing of "a naught," where the word boundary was reanalyzed.
**Meanings 4–5, 10** — From Middle English aught ("estimation, regard, reputation"), from Old English æht ("estimation, consideration"), from Proto-West Germanic *ahtu; cognate with Dutch acht and German Acht ("attention, regard").
**Meaning 8** — Originally the past tense of "owe."
**Meaning 9** — From Middle English ahte, from Old English eahta ("eight").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/aught (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).