# ought

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

## Verb

1. Used to express that a course of action is advisable, sensible, or prudent for someone.
   - Simple: Used to say that doing something is a smart or wise idea.
   - _You ought to back up your files before installing the new update._
   - _Investors ought to diversify rather than stake everything on a single stock._
2. Used to express that a state of affairs is desirable or would be fitting and good.
   - Simple: Used to say that something would be good or right if it happened.
   - _Real talent ought to be celebrated, not hidden away._
   - _A view this beautiful ought to be shared with everyone._
3. Used to express that someone has a duty or moral obligation to act in a certain way.
   - Simple: Used to say that someone has a duty or must do the right thing.
   - _A doctor ought to put the welfare of patients above personal convenience._
   - _Citizens ought to obey the laws of the land, however inconvenient they may be._
4. Used to express that something is likely or probable, based on what one expects from the circumstances.
   - Simple: Used to say that something is likely to happen or be true.
   - _The package ought to arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon._
   - _With clear skies forecast, the launch ought to go ahead on schedule._

## Noun

5. A claim about how things should be, contrasted with a statement of how things actually are.
   - Simple: A claim about how things should be, not how they really are.
   - _Critics noted that the essay slid from an is to an ought without any justification._
   - _Every moral code rests on some ought that cannot be proved from facts alone._
6. Another spelling of aught: zero, especially as spoken in years and numbers, as in nineteen ought nine. — Alternative spelling of aught; cipher, zero, nought.
   - Simple: Another spelling of aught: the number zero, as in nineteen ought four.
   - _My great-grandmother was born in nineteen ought nine on a small farm in Kansas._
   - _His hunting rifle is a thirty-ought-six that once belonged to his father._

## Pronoun

7. Another spelling of aught: anything at all. Archaic. *(archaic)* — Alternative spelling of aught; anything
   - Simple: Another spelling of aught: anything. It is an old word, seen mostly in older writing.

## Adverb

8. Another spelling of aught: at all, or to any degree. Archaic. *(archaic)* — Alternative spelling of aught; at all, to any degree.
   - Simple: Another spelling of aught: at all. It is an old word, seen mostly in older writing.

## Verb

9. Past tense of owe. Obsolete; the modern form is owed. *(obsolete)* — simple past of owe
   - Simple: Past tense of owe. This old form is no longer used, and today people say owed.

## Origin

Old English āhte became Middle English oughte. It was the past-tense form of āgan ("to own, possess") used for the first and third persons singular, so it amounts to owe plus -t. Sanskrit īśvará ("capable of, liable") is related.

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