things

Things are a broad, common noun used to refer to objects, items, or matters without specifying their identity. In everyday language, "things" can denote physical objects, events, ideas, or situations, and the intended reference is supplied by context.

The word thing comes from Old English þing, originally meaning a meeting, matter, or event. Over time its sense expanded to cover tangible objects as well as abstract topics, giving rise to the modern plural things and the frequent use of the singular "thing" as a non-specific item.

In linguistics, thing is a semantically overloaded term. It often functions as a placeholder or variable, as in "the thing in the drawer," or as a generic category "things in life." Phrases like "the things" can refer to the objects under discussion or to the broader set of items in a domain.

In philosophy, "things" are discussed as the basic units of reality or experience. Kant's notion of things-in-themselves refers to objects as they exist independently of perception, while phenomenologists investigate how things present themselves to consciousness and the sense of thingness that accompanies human engagement with the world.

In contemporary usage, the plural "things" appears in expressions such as the Internet of Things, which describes networked devices and everyday objects. More generally, it remains a versatile term in commerce, technology, culture, and research to reference items without specifying their exact identity.