aught
UK/ɔːt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/oːt/
aught pronoun: anything whatsoever, any part. Also the obsolete or dialectal form of ought.
Pronoun
aught
- Anything whatsoever, any part.
- for aught I know/care
- […] wouldst thou aught with me?c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Adverb
aught (not comparable)
- At all, in any degree, in any respect.
- […] and if your love
Can labour aught in sad invention,
Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb,
And sing it to her bones [...]1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- […] and if your love
Noun (1)
aught (plural aughts)
Noun (2)
aught (plural aughts)
- Zero.
- The digit zero.
Noun (3)
aught (uncountable)
- Estimation.
- in my aught
- Of importance or consequence (in the phrase "of aught").
- an event of aught
- Esteem, respect.
- a man of aught
- Show some aught to your elders, boy.
Also used as
aught is also the obsolete or dialectal form of ought.
aught is also the obsolete or dialectal form of eight.
Examples of aught in a sentence
- But go, my Son, and ſee if aught be vvanting / Among thy Father's Friends; […]1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page...
- […]to other objects, which for aught we know, may be only in appearance similar.1748, [David Hume], “chapter 29”, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- It was a foolish thing to do; but when was happy youth aught but foolish?1881, E[liza] Lynn Linton, “In the Morning”, in “My Love!” […], volume I, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 1:
- There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made.1977, J. R. R. Tolkien, “Ainulindalë”, in Silmarillion:
Synonyms of aught
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of aught
| Pronoun | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | owt |
| Noun | |
| plural | aughts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | aughts |
| present participle | aughting |
| past participle | aughted |
| past | aughted |
Origin of aught
From Middle English aught, ought, from Old English āht, āwiht, from ā (“always", "ever”) + wiht (“thing", "creature”). More at wight.
Rebracketing of a naught.
From Middle English aught (“estimation, regard, reputation”), from Old English ǣht (“estimation, consideration”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahtu. Cognate with Dutch acht (“attention, regard, heed”), German Acht (“attention, regard”). Also see ettle.
Words formed from aught
Words that rhyme with aught
Questions about aught
- What does aught mean?
- Aught means anything whatsoever, any part.
- How do you use aught in a sentence?
- But go, my Son, and ſee if aught be vvanting / Among thy Father's Friends; […]
- What part of speech is aught?
- Aught can be a pronoun, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce aught?
- Aught is pronounced /ɔːt/ (UK).
Words near aught in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: aught (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-aught.ogg.
Cite this entry: “aught.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aught. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.