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thank

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thank¹

  • /ˈθæŋk/ UK
  • [ˈθæŋk] UK
  • /ˈθaŋk/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈθaŋk] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈθaŋk/ Northern England, Scotland
  • [ˈθäŋk] Northern England, Scotland
  • /ˈfaŋk/
  • /ˈθɛŋk/ New Zealand
  • [ˈθɛŋk] New Zealand
  • /ˈðæŋk/
  • [ˈðæŋk]
  • /ˈθeɪŋk/
  • [ˈθeɪ̯ŋk] ~ [ˈθɛ̃ŋk]
  • /ˈðeɪŋk/
  • [ˈðeɪ̯ŋk] ~ [ˈðɛ̃ŋk]
  • /ˈθɛŋk/

Sounds like think (thank-think merger), tank, dank (both th-stopping) · Rhymes with -æŋk

Where it comes from

From Middle English thank (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; attractiveness; commendation, praise; God’s grace; goodwill; merit, reward; mind, thought”), from Old English þanc, þonc (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; favour, grace; mind, thought; pleasure, satisfaction”), from Proto-Germanic *þankaz (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; mind, thought; remembrance”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to perceive; to think”).

Cognates

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tonk (“thanks”), West Frisian tanke (“thanks”), Cimbrian dånke (“thanks”), Dutch dank (“thanks”), German Dank (“thanks”), Vilamovian dank, daŋk, daonk (“thanks”), Yiddish דאַנק (dank, “thanks”), Danish tak (“thanks”), Elfdalian tokk (“thanks”), Faroese takk, tøkk (“thanks”), Icelandic takk, þökk (“thanks”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk takk (“thanks”), Swedish tack (“thanks”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃 (þagks, “thanks”), Vandalic *þank- (“thanks”); also Latin tongeō (“to know”).

For the think — thank relation, compare typologically Russian призна́тельный (priznátelʹnyj) (< знать (znatʹ).

noun thanks

  1. obsolete, singular singular of thanks (“an expression of appreciation or gratitude; grateful feelings or thoughts; favour, goodwill, graciousness”) If ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.

thank²

  • /ˈθæŋk/ UK
  • [ˈθæŋk] UK
  • /ˈθaŋk/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈθaŋk] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈθaŋk/ Northern England, Scotland
  • [ˈθäŋk] Northern England, Scotland
  • /ˈfaŋk/
  • /ˈθɛŋk/ New Zealand
  • [ˈθɛŋk] New Zealand
  • /ˈðæŋk/
  • [ˈðæŋk]
  • /ˈθeɪŋk/
  • [ˈθeɪ̯ŋk] ~ [ˈθɛ̃ŋk]
  • /ˈðeɪŋk/
  • [ˈðeɪ̯ŋk] ~ [ˈðɛ̃ŋk]
  • /ˈθɛŋk/

Sounds like think (thank-think merger), tank, dank (both th-stopping) · Rhymes with -æŋk

Where it comes from

From Middle English thanken (“to express gratitude, give thanks; to congratulate, rejoice with, or wish joy to; to extol; to hold responsible for”), from Old English þancian, þoncian (“to thank”), from Proto-West Germanic *þankōn, from Proto-Germanic *þankōną (“to thank”), from *þankaz (see etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming infinitives of verbs from nouns).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots thank (“to thank”), Saterland Frisian tonkje (“to thank”), Cimbrian dånkan (“to thank”), Dutch, German, and Luxembourgish danken (“to thank”), Vilamovian danka, daŋka, daonka (“to thank”), Yiddish דאַנקען (danken, “to thank”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål takke (“to thank”), Faroese takka (“to thank”), Icelandic þakka (“to thank”), Swedish tacka (“to thank”).

verb thanks · thanking · thanked · thanke

  1. transitive To express appreciation or gratitude toward (someone or something). She thanked him for the lift.
  2. transitive In the future tense in the form one will thank someone to do something, chiefly expressing a command or criticism: to request that (someone) do something. I’ll thank you not to smoke in my house!
  3. rare, transitive To express appreciation or gratitude for (something).
  4. figuratively, transitive To respond to (someone) out of, or as if out of, appreciation or gratitude. I should summon my lord from the Queen's royal presence to do your business, should I?—I were like to be thanked with a horse-whip.
  5. figuratively, transitive Chiefly followed by for: to credit or hold (someone or something) responsible, especially for something negative; to blame. We can thank global warming for this freak weather.
  6. intransitive, obsolete To express gratitude.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: give thanks, thankyou, appreciate, thank-you, thanksgiving, gratitude, commend, praise, compliment, applaud, welcome, appreciation, congratulate, tribute, credit, mercy

Translations

Every language

verb to express appreciation or gratitude toward (someone or something)

Españolagradecer
한국어감사하다 gamsahada
日本語感謝する kansha suru
中文道謝 /道谢 dàoxiè, 感謝 /感谢 gǎnxiè, 謝 /谢 xiè
हिन्दीधन्यवाद देना dhanyavād denā, शुक्रिया करना śukriyā karnā, शुक्र करना śukra karnā
Kiswahili-shukuru
Portuguêsagradecer
Françaisremercier
Deutschdanken, sich bedanken
Italianoringraziare
Ελληνικάευχαριστώ efcharistó, ευγνωμονώ evgnomonó
Românăa mulțumi
Русскийблагодари́ть blagodarítʹ, поблагодари́ть poblagodarítʹ
Tiếng Việtcám ơn, biết ơn
العربيةشَكَرَ šakara
עבריתהוֹדָה hodá

verb to credit or hold (someone or something) responsible

日本語おかげ okage
Ελληνικάευχαριστώ efcharistó
עבריתהוֹדָה hodá

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MLA

"thank." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/thank. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

thank. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/thank

Chicago

"thank." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/thank.

BibTeX
@misc{thank_2026,
  title = {thank},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thank},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}