methinks
contractionUK /mɪˈθɪŋks/ · US /miˈθɪŋks/
Etymology From Middle English me thinketh from Old English mē þynceþ (from þyncan (“to seem”)); equivalent to me (indirect object pronoun, as in “show me it”) + think (“to seem”). Compare synonymous Flemish me dunkt, German mir/mich dünkt, Old Norse mér þykkir (Icelandic mér þykir). Compare meseems.
1
Archaic, Contraction, Humorous It seems to me.
- methinks the truth should live from age to age,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]:
- The lady doth protest too much, methinks.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]:
2 more examples
- And then methought my dream changed, and two Great Giants with heading-axes came striding over the bed, […]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:
- Dr. Tobias Funke: Methinks a cupid I shall play.2003, “Bringing Up Buster”, in Arrested Development:
- Derived terms
- methinks the lady doth protest too much