think: [OE] Think goes back to an Old English thencan. This was a variant of thyncan ‘seem, appear’, which survives in the archaic methinks (literally ‘it seems to me’), and so etymologically think probably carries the notion of ‘causing images, reflections, etc to appear to oneself, in one’s brain’. The noun thought comes from the same prehistoric Germanic base as produced the verb (as does English thank). Related Germanic forms include German and Dutch denken, Swedish tänka, and Danish tænke. => thank, thought
think (v.)
Old English þencan "imagine, conceive in the mind; consider, meditate, remember; intend, wish, desire" (past tense þohte, past participle geþoht), probably originally "cause to appear to oneself," from Proto-Germanic *thankjan (cognates: Old Frisian thinka, Old Saxon thenkian, Old High German denchen, German denken, Old Norse þekkja, Gothic þagkjan).
Old English þencan is the causative form of the distinct Old English verb þyncan "to seem, to appear" (past tense þuhte, past participle geþuht), from Proto-Germanic *thunkjan (cognates: German dünken, däuchte). Both are from PIE *tong- "to think, feel" which also is the root of thought and thank.
The two Old English words converged in Middle English and þyncan "to seem" was absorbed, except for its preservation in archaic methinks "it seems to me." As a noun, "act of prolonged thinking," from 1834. The figurative thinking cap is attested from 1839.
双语例句
1. Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think.--Dale Carnegie
请记住，幸福不在于你是谁或者你拥有什么，而仅仅取决于你的心态！
来自金山词霸 每日一句
2. "I think I'll try a hypnotist," I said with sudden resolution.
“我会找催眠师试试，”我突然坚决地说。
来自柯林斯例句
3. I think I've got one of the most stressful jobs there is.
我想我得到的这份工作是其中最繁重的工作之一。
来自柯林斯例句
4. They get angry if they think they are being treated disrespectfully.
他们要是觉得受到了怠慢，就会大动肝火。
来自柯林斯例句
5. It's an uphill battle but I think we're going to win.