ought : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: ought	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for ought
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ought \Ought\ ([add]t), n. & adv. See {Aught}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ought \Ought\, imp., p. p., or auxiliary. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. [be]hte. [root]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. [bd]Well ought us work.[b8] --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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Owe \Owe\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Owed}, ({Ought}obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. {Owing}.] [OE. owen, awen,aghen, to have, own, have (to do), hence, owe, AS. [be]gan to have; akin to G. eigen, a., own, Icel. eiga to have, Dan. eie, Sw. [84]ga, Goth. [a0]igan, Skr. [?]. [?][?][?][?]. Cf. {Ought}, v., 2d {Own}, {Fraught}.] 1. To possess; to have, as the rightful owner; to own. [Obs.] Thou dost here usurp The name thou ow'st not. --Shak. 2. To have or possess, as something derived or bestowed; to be obliged to ascribe (something to some source); to be indebted or obliged for; as, he owed his wealth to his father; he owed his victory to his lieutenants. --Milton. O deem thy fall not owed to man's decree. --Pope. 3. Hence: To have or be under an obigation to restore, pay, or render (something) in return or compensation for something received; to be indebted in the sum of; as, the subject owes allegiance; the fortunate owe assistance to the unfortunate. The one ought five hundred pence, and the other fifty. --Bible (1551). A son owes help and honor to his father. --Holyday. Note: Owe was sometimes followed by an objective clause introduced by the infinitive. [bd]Ye owen to incline and bow your heart.[b8] --Chaucer. 4. To have an obligation to (some one) on account of something done or received; to be indebted to; as, to iwe the grocer for supplies, or a laborer for services.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Aught \Aught\, n. [OE. aught, ought, awiht, AS. [be]wiht, [be] ever + wiht. [fb]136. See {Aye} ever, and {Whit}, {Wight}.] Anything; any part. [Also written {ought}.] There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord has spoken. --Josh. xxi. 45 But go, my son, and see if aught be wanting. --Addison.