Lexic.us

Definition of Ought

1. n. & adv. See Aught.

2. imp., p. p., or auxiliary Was or were under obligation to pay; owed.

Definition of Ought

1. Verb. (obsolete) (simple past of owe) ¹

2. Verb. (auxiliary) Indicating duty or obligation. ¹

3. Verb. (auxiliary) Indicating advisability or prudence. ¹

4. Verb. (auxiliary) Indicating desirability. ¹

5. Verb. (auxiliary) Indicating likelihood or probability. ¹

6. Pronoun. (alternative spelling of aught) anything ¹

7. Adverb. (alternative spelling of aught) at all, to any degree. ¹

8. Noun. A statement of what ought to be the case as contrasted to what is the case. ¹

9. Noun. (alternative spelling of aught) cipher, zero, nought. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Ought

1. to owe [v -ED, -ING, -S] - See also: owe

Lexicographical Neighbors of Ought

Literary usage of Ought

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life by George Eliot (1873)
""I think Fred ought not to need telling again what I have already said to him," Mary ... "I mean that he ought not to put such questions until he has done ..."

2. The Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (1892)
"No," said Catherine, after a few moments' reflection, " I do not: ought I ? ... Such feelings ought to be investigated, that they may know themselves. ..."

3. The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine, Thomas, Edward Bouverie Pusey, William Benham (1909)
"Therefore ought the freewill offering of thyself into the 'hands of God to go ... CHAPTER IX That we ought to offer ourselves and all that is ours to God, ..."

4. The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle, Robert Williams (1869)
"He, then, who becomes angry at what he ought, and with whom he ought, and further as he ought, and when he ought, and for as long as he ought,—he is ..."

5. The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle, Robert Williams (1869)
"He, then, who becomes angry at what he ought, and with whom he ought, and further as he ought, and when he ought, and for as long as he ought,—he is ..."

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