aught

1 of 3

pronoun

ˈȯt 

ˈät

1

: anything

2

: all, everything

for aught I care

for aught we know

aught

2 of 3

adverb

archaic

: at all

aught

3 of 3

noun

1

: zero, cipher

2

archaic : nonentity, nothing

3

aughts plural : the ten year period from 2000 through 2009

By the middle of the aughts, … the percentage of 26-year-olds living with their parents reached 20 percent, nearly double what it was in 1970.

—Don Peck

Did you know?

"If you know aught which does behove my knowledge / Thereof to be inform'd, imprison't not / In ignorant concealment," Polixenes begs Camillo in William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, employing the "anything" sense of aught. Shakespeare didn't coin the pronoun aught, which has been a part of the English language since before the 12th century, but he did put it to frequent use. Writers today may be less likely to use aught than were their literary predecessors, but the pronoun does continue to turn up occasionally. Aught can also be a noun meaning "zero," and "the aughts" is heard occasionally for the decade at the beginning of a century (say, 1900-1909 or 2000-2009) in which the penultimate digit is a zero.

Synonyms

Noun

• cipher
• goose egg
• naught
• nought
• nil
• nothing
• o
• oh
• zero
• zilch
• zip

Examples of aught in a Sentence

Noun

for dates, the year is automatically listed as a pair of aughts, so the user has to scroll down to the correct figure

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The late '90s and early aughts were the last peak for movie stars. —Amanda Luberto, The Arizona Republic, 12 Apr. 2024

And who could forget the ubiquitous flower crown atop brides in the early aughts? —Shelby Wax, Vogue, 12 Apr. 2024

Director Ryuhei Kitamura invites nearly every character, trope, theme, and, most importantly, monster from Godzilla’s first half-century into this feverish explosion of early aughts action. —Katie Rife, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2024

Well into the aughts, much of the coverage of Black American tech usage had a tone of incredulity or outright condescension. —Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024

The campaign was inspired by the early aughts, particularly the years 2003 to 2010. —Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 12 Apr. 2024

End of carousel Regina and Reina glommed onto the idea of making a Chisholm biopic — the first, despite the representative’s many accomplishments — in the late aughts. —Helena Andrews-Dyer, Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2024

Towards the late aughts, the Princess of Wales would opt for wedges with floral dresses in the summer months. —Alex Kessler, Vogue, 21 Mar. 2024

The soup gained traction in the late aughts, likely when the Campbell’s Soup Co. published a recipe for it that included beef broth. —Christina Morales, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Pronoun and Adverb

Middle English, from Old English āwiht, from ā ever + wiht creature, thing — more at aye, wight

Noun

alteration (resulting from false division of a naught) of naught

First Known Use

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1872, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing aught

• for aught one knows

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Kids Definition

aught

1 of 2 pronoun

ˈȯt 

ˈät

: all entry 3 sense 1

for aught we know

aught

2 of 2 noun

1

: zero entry 1 sense 1

2

: the first decade of a century

Etymology

Pronoun

Old English āwiht "anything," from ā "ever, always" and wiht "creature, thing"

Noun

from naught "zero," from mistaking a naught for an aught