methinks

English

Alternative forms

• methinketh, me thinketh, me thinks, mythinks, my thinks

Etymology

From Old English mē thyncth, from mē (“to me”) + thyncth (“it seems”) (from þyncan (“to seem”)); equivalent to me (“object pronoun”) + think (“to seem”). The modern syntax would be "it makes me think". Compare synonymous German mir/mich dünkt, Old Norse mér þykkir (Icelandic mér þykir).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɪˈθɪŋks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋks

Contraction

methinks (past tense methought)

1. (archaic or humorous) It seems to me.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     methinks the truth should live from age to age,

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

   • 1862 February, George Augustus [Henry] Sala, “The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous; a Narrative in Plain English, […] Chapter the Fourth. My Grandmother Dies, and I am Left Alone, without So Much as a Name.”, in George Augustus Sala, editor, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume IV, London: Office of "Temple Bar," 122 Fleet Street; Ward and Lock, 158 Fleet Street; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers, →OCLC, page 304:

     And then methought my dream changed, and two Great Giants with heading-axes came striding over the bed, […]

   • 2003, “Bringing Up Buster”, in Arrested Development:

     Dr. Tobias Funke: Methinks a cupid I shall play.

Usage notes

In Early Modern English, used at least 150 times by William Shakespeare; in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer, me thinketh; and in Old English by Alfred the Great, mē þyncþ.

Translations

it seems to me

Arabic: يَبْدُو لِي (yabdū lī) Bulgarian: струва ми се (struva mi se) Chinese: Mandarin: 據我看來／据我看来 (jù wǒ kàn lái), 依我看來／依我看来 (yī wǒ kàn lái), 我認為／我认为 (wǒ rènwéi) Czech: mně se zdá Dutch: me dunkt Estonian: mulle tundub, minu meelest Finnish: minusta tuntuu, mielestäni French: il me semble, il m’apparaît (unusual, conveys the archaic meaning), m’est avis (fr) Georgian: ალბათ (albat) German: mich dünkt, (rarer) mir dünkt Greek: μου φαίνεται (el) (mou faínetai) Hebrew: חושבני m (khoshváni) (flowery), חושבתני f (khoshvátni) (flowery) Hungarian: úgy tűnik, olybá tűnik (archaic or humorous) Icelandic: mér virðist, mér sýnist Italian: mi sembra, mi pare Japanese: 私が思うに (watashi ga omou ni) Kazakh: меніңше (menıñşe) Lithuanian: manding Low German: German Low German: mi dücht, mi dünkt Macedonian: ми се чи́ни (mi se číni) Norwegian: det synes meg Polish: moim zdaniem (pl), na moje, na mój rozum, po mojemu (pl), w moich oczach (pl), w moim odczuciu, w moim przekonaniu, w mojej opinii, według mnie Portuguese: me parece (pt), parece-me Romanian: îmi pare Russian: мне ка́жется (mne kážetsja), кажи́сь (ru) (kažísʹ), похо́же (ru) (poxóže), похо́ду (ru) (poxódu), сдаётся (ru) (sdajótsja), по-мо́ему (ru) (po-mójemu) Serbo-Croatian: čini mi se Slovak: zdá sa mi Slovene: zdi se mi Spanish: me parece (es) Swedish: det tycks mig, det synes mig, mig tyckes Tamil: எனக்கு ... என்று தோன்றுது (eṉakku ... eṉṟu tōṉṟutu) Turkish: sanırım ki, galiba (tr)

See also

• methought (archaic)
• meseems (obsolete)
• mehopes

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “methinks”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.