Etymology

thob

T1H4O1B3

Today it means: To engage in wishful thinking; to believe something regardless of evidence because it aligns with one's opinion; to rationalize. Full definition →

English believeacronym ← Middle English bileven ← Old English belīefan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*teng-
  2. Proto-Germanic*þankijaną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*þankijan
  4. Old Englishþenċan
  5. Middle Englishthinken
  6. Englishthinkacronym
  7. Englishopinionacronym
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  10. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  12. Proto-Germanic*bi
  13. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  14. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  15. Proto-Indo-European*lewbʰ-
  16. Proto-Germanic*laubō
  17. Proto-Germanic*laubijaną
  18. Proto-West Germanic*laubijan
  19. Proto-West Germanic*bilaubijan
  20. Old Englishbelīefan
  21. Middle Englishbileven
  22. Englishbelieveacronym
  23. English todaythob

Coined by American author and schoolteacher Henshaw Ward in 1926 in his book Thobbing: A Seat at the Circus of the Intellect, as an acronym of think, opinion and believe: "When a person thinks without curiosity, has an opinion because he likes it, believes what is handy—then he THOBs."

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.