ought

n. & adv. (a̤t)

See Aught.

Ought
imp., p. p., or auxiliary

[Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. āhte. √110. See Owe.]

1. Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Obs.]

This due obedience which they ought to the king.

Tyndale.

The love and duty I long have ought you.

Spelman.

[He] said . . . you ought him a thousand pound.

Shak.

2. Owned; possessed. [Obs.]

The knight the which that castle ought.

Spenser.

3. To be bound in duty or by moral obligation.

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.

Rom. xv. 1.

4. To be necessary, fit, becoming, or expedient; to behoove; -- in this sense formerly sometimes used impersonally or without a subject expressed. «Well ought us work.» Chaucer.

To speak of this as it ought, would ask a volume.

Milton.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?

Luke xxiv. 26.

Note: Ought is now chiefly employed as an auxiliary verb, expressing fitness, expediency, propriety, moral obligation, or the like, in the action or state indicated by the principal verb.

Syn. -- Ought, Should. Usage: Both words imply obligation, but ought is the stronger. Should may imply merely an obligation of propriety, expendiency, etc.; ought denotes an obligation of duty.

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The principal term with which we express obligation and duty, but also the conclusion of less weighty practical reasoning: ‘if we want a drink we ought to find a café.’ See also categorical/hypothetical imperative, ethics.

IN BRIEF: Used to express duty.

Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be. — Clementine Paddleford, author of Clementine Paddelford's Cook Young Cookbook.

Tutor's tip: We "ought" (to express obligation or likelihood) to know that there is "aught" (zero, zilch) reward for being unkind to others.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: expresses an emotional, practical, or other reason for doing something
  Synonyms: should, had better

Meaning #2: be logically necessary
  Synonyms: should, must, need

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
aux. v. - burde, skulle

idioms:

• ought to have    burde have

2.
n. - nul

3.
pron. - noget

Nederlands (Dutch)
zou moeten, iets, nul

Français (French)
1.
aux. v. - devoir

idioms:

• ought to have    devrais, devrait, devriez avoir

2.
n. - zéro (arch)

3.
pron. - pour autant que, pour ce que

Deutsch (German)
1.
aux. v. - sollten

idioms:

• ought to have    müßte haben

2.
n. - was auch immer, Null

3.
pron. - null
cont. - dürfte nicht, müßte nicht

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - θα έπρεπε/όφειλε, πρέπει, οφείλω
n. - οτιδήποτε, (καθομ.) μηδέν, νούλα, ζερό

idioms:

• ought to have    όφειλε να έχει

Italiano (Italian)
qualcosa, nullità

idioms:

• ought to have    avrebbe dovuto

Português (Portuguese)
v. - dever
n. - zero (m), algo (m), alguma coisa

idioms:

• ought to have    deveria ter

Русский (Russian)
следует, надо было

idioms:

• ought to have    следует иметь

Español (Spanish)
1.
aux. v. - deber, deber de, convenir, ser conveniente

idioms:

• ought to have    debería haber, debería tener

2.
n. - cero a la izquierda, nulidad, nada

3.
pron. - algo, alguna cosa

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - bör, borde, skall, torde
n. - ett måste, åld. nolla

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 应当, 应该

idioms:

• ought to have    应该有

2. 应当, 应该

3. 责任

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 責任

2.
pron. - 應當, 應該
adv. - 應當, 應該

3.
aux. v. - 應當, 應該

idioms:

• ought to have    應該有

한국어 (Korean)
1.
aux. v. - ~해야 한다

2.
n. - 무, 보잘 것 없는 사람

3.
pron. - 다른 어떤 것

日本語 (Japanese)
aux. v. - 少しも
n. - 零

idioms:

• ought to have    すべきであった

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يجب (الاسم) واجب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
aux. v. - ‮היה צריך, היה חייב‬
n. - ‮שום-דבר (מיושן)‬
pron. - ‮משהו (מיושן)‬

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