anything

Meanings

1. 1
   pron

   Any object, act, state, event, or fact whatsoever; a thing of any kind; something or other.

   I would not do it for anything.

2. 2
   pron

   Expressing an indefinite comparison.

   Perhaps it was this atmosphere of misplacedness and loneliness as much as anything which led her to speak to him one evening in early summer when the office had closed.

3. 3
   noun

   Someone or something of importance.

   How long does it take to turn you actors into good anythings?

4. 4
   verb

   Used as a placeholder verb for any verb out of a set of related verbs.

   He wasn't cooking, he wasn't sweeping, he wasn't anythinging!

5. 5
   adv

   In any way, any extent or any degree.

   That isn't anything like a car.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Indo-European *h₁oy-no-kós Proto-Germanic *ainagaz Proto-West Germanic *ainag Old English ǣniġ Old English ǣniġe Proto-Indo-European *tenk-? Proto-Indo-European *tenkóm Proto-Germanic *þingą Proto-West Germanic *þing Old English þing Old English þinga Old English ǣniġe þinga Middle English anything English anything From Middle English anything, enything, onything, onythynge, from Old English ǣniġe þinga, ǣnġi þinga (literally “by any of things”), from ǣniġe, instrumental form of ǣniġ (“any”) +…