Adjacent Words

Ought definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OUGHT. [See Aught, the true orthography.]
OUGHT, v. imperfect, aut.
1. To be held or bound in duty or moral obligation.
These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Matthew 23.
We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. Romans 15.
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. Matthew 25.
2. To be necessary; to behoove.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into glory? Luke 24.
3. To be fit or expedient in a moral view.
My brethren, these things ought not so to be. James 3.
4. As a participle, owed; been indebted to.
The love and duty I long have ought you.
That followed, sir, which to myself I ought.
[In this sense, obsolete.]
5. In Chaucer's time, it was used impersonally. "Wel ought us werke," that is, well it behooveth us to work.

Merriam Webster's

I. verbal auxiliary Etymology: Middle English oughte (1st & 3d singular present indicative), from oughte, 1st & 3d singular past indicative & subjunctive of owen to own, owe — more at owe Date: 12th century — used to express obligation <ought to pay our debts>, advisability <ought to take care of yourself>, natural expectation <ought to be here by now>, or logical consequence <the result ought to be infinity> II. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English oughte, 1st & 3d singular past indicative of owen Date: 13th century 1. chiefly Scottish possess 2. chiefly Scottish owe III. noun Date: 1678 moral obligation ; duty IV. archaic variant of aught

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v.aux. (usu. foll. by to + infin.; present and past indicated by the following infin.) 1 expressing duty or rightness (we ought to love our neighbours). 2 expressing shortcoming (it ought to have been done long ago). 3 expressing advisability or prudence (you ought to go for your own good). 4 expressing esp. strong probability (he ought to be there by now). Phrases and idioms: ought not the negative form of ought (he ought not to have stolen it). Etymology: OE ahte, past of agan OWE 2. n. (also aught) colloq. a figure denoting nothing; nought. Etymology: perh. f. an ought for a NOUGHT; cf. ADDER 3. var. of AUGHT(1).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ought Ought, imp., p. p., or auxiliary. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. [=a]hte. [root]110. See Owe.] 1. Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Obs.] This due obedience which they ought to the king. --Tyndale. The love and duty I long have ought you. --Spelman. [He] said . . . you ought him a thousand pound. --Shak. 2. Owned; possessed. [Obs.] The knight the which that castle ought. --Spenser. 3. To be bound in duty or by moral obligation. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. --Rom. xv. 1. 4. To be necessary, fit, becoming, or expedient; to behoove; -- in this sense formerly sometimes used impersonally or without a subject expressed. ``Well ought us work.'' --Chaucer. To speak of this as it ought, would ask a volume. --Milton. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things? --Luke xxiv. 26. Note: Ought is now chiefly employed as an auxiliary verb, expressing fitness, expediency, propriety, moral obligation, or the like, in the action or state indicated by the principal verb. Syn: Ought, Should. Usage: Both words imply obligation, but ought is the stronger. Should may imply merely an obligation of propriety, expendiency, etc.; ought denotes an obligation of duty.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Owe Owe, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Owed, (Oughtobs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Owing.] [OE. owen, awen,aghen, to have, own, have (to do), hence, owe, AS. [=a]gan to have; akin to G. eigen, a., own, Icel. eiga to have, Dan. eie, Sw. ["a]ga, Goth. ['a]igan, Skr. ?. ????. Cf. Ought, v., 2d Own, Fraught.] 1. To possess; to have, as the rightful owner; to own. [Obs.] Thou dost here usurp The name thou ow'st not. --Shak. 2. To have or possess, as something derived or bestowed; to be obliged to ascribe (something to some source); to be indebted or obliged for; as, he owed his wealth to his father; he owed his victory to his lieutenants. --Milton. O deem thy fall not owed to man's decree. --Pope. 3. Hence: To have or be under an obigation to restore, pay, or render (something) in return or compensation for something received; to be indebted in the sum of; as, the subject owes allegiance; the fortunate owe assistance to the unfortunate. The one ought five hundred pence, and the other fifty. --Bible (1551). A son owes help and honor to his father. --Holyday. Note: Owe was sometimes followed by an objective clause introduced by the infinitive. ``Ye owen to incline and bow your heart.'' --Chaucer. 4. To have an obligation to (some one) on account of something done or received; to be indebted to; as, to iwe the grocer for supplies, or a laborer for services.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aught 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: 'Ought to' is a phrasal modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb. The negative form of 'ought to' is 'ought not to', which is sometimes shortened to 'oughtn't to' in spoken English. 1. You use ought to to mean that it is morally right to do a particular thing or that it is morally right for a particular situation to exist, especially when giving or asking for advice or opinions. Mark, you've got a good wife. You ought to take care of her... You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You've created this problem. = should PHRASE 2. You use ought to when saying that you think it is a good idea and important for you or someone else to do a particular thing, especially when giving or asking for advice or opinions. You don't have to be alone with him and I don't think you ought to be... You ought to ask a lawyer's advice... We ought not to be quarrelling now. = should PHRASE 3. You use ought to to indicate that you expect something to be true or to happen. You use ought to have to indicate that you expect something to have happened already. 'This ought to be fun,' he told Alex, eyes gleaming. = should PHRASE 4. You use ought to to indicate that you think that something should be the case, but might not be. By rights the Social Democrats ought to be the favourites in the election. But nothing looks less certain... Though this gives them a nice feeling, it really ought to worry them. = should PHRASE 5. You use ought to to indicate that you think that something has happened because of what you know about the situation, but you are not certain. He ought to have reached the house some time ago. = should PHRASE [vagueness] 6. You use ought to have with a past participle to indicate that something was expected to happen or be the case, but it did not happen or was not the case. Basically the system ought to have worked... The money to build the power station ought to have been sufficient. PHRASE 7. You use ought to have with a past participle to indicate that although it was best or correct for someone to do something in the past, they did not actually do it. I realize I ought to have told you about it... Perhaps we ought to have trusted people more... I ought not to have asked you a thing like that. I'm sorry... I'm beginning to feel now we oughtn't to have let her go away like that. PHRASE 8. You use ought to when politely telling someone that you must do something, for example that you must leave. I really ought to be getting back now... I think I ought to go. = should PHRASE [politeness]