Thank

How to spell thank

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce thank

What does thank mean?

1. verbTo express gratitude to someone for something they have done or given.

Thank in a sentence

• Please thank your colleagues for staying late to finish the report.

• She paused at the door to thank the volunteers personally.

Where does thank come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English word descending from the Old English verb thancian, meaning 'to give thanks' or 'to express gratitude'. It grew out of the noun thanc, which originally meant 'thought' or 'a kindly feeling', so the earliest sense was closer to holding someone in good thought or showing them favourable consideration. That link between thinking and thanking runs right across the Germanic languages: German still pairs danken 'to thank' with denken 'to think', preserving the very same connection. Over the medieval period the meaning narrowed to the modern act of acknowledging a kindness, and the spelling settled into the short, blunt form we use today. Because it is such an old, high-frequency word, the spelling has stayed simple and predictable, with the only real point of care being the opening 'th' and the final 'k'.

How the word is built

• thank (from Old English thancian: to give thanks, express gratitude)