Etymology

overthink

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Today it means: To think or analyze too much. Full definition →

English think ← Middle English thinken ← Old English þenċan
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overthink · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Germanic*uber
  4. Old Englishofer-
  5. Middle Englishover-
  6. Englishover-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*teng-
  8. Proto-Germanic*þankijaną
  9. Proto-West Germanic*þankijan
  10. Old Englishþenċan
  11. Middle Englishthinken
  12. Englishthink
  13. English todayoverthink

From over- + think.

overthink · verb2

  1. Old English · inherited fromoferþenċan“to think over; consider”
  2. Middle English · inherited from*overthenken
  3. English todayoverthink

From Middle English *overthenken, *overthenchen (compare Middle English overthinken (“to grieve; have regrets; be sorry; be anxious”)), from Old English oferþenċan (“to think over; consider”), equivalent to over- + think.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.