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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

that's en · X · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /ðəts/ weak form
  • /ðæts/

Etymology

From that + 's (contraction of words ending in s).

Meanings

  1. (contraction) That is.
    • That's the book I've been looking for.
  2. (contraction) That has.
    • I've managed to find the solution to the problem that's been bugging me all day.
  3. (contraction, proscribed) That was.
    • Yesterday, that's bugging me all day.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
das alternative lexicographic
thass alternative lexicographic
dat's alternative lexicographic
thats alternative lexicographic
thash alternative lexicographic
thas alternative lexicographic
thazz alternative lexicographic

that's en · DET · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /ðəts/ weak form
  • /ðæts/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tód Proto-Germanic *þod Proto-Germanic *þat Proto-West Germanic *þat Old English þæt Middle English that English that English -'s English that's From that + -'s (possessive marker).

Meanings

  1. (Canada, Northern-Ireland, US, West-Midlands) whose, of which (in dialects that require a human antecedent for 'whose')
    • 1995, Aimo Seppänen & Göran Kjellmer. The dog that's leg was run over: On the genitive of the relative pronoun. English Studies 76, 389–400.
    • It had products like a WiFi light bulb that's brightness and even color can be controlled via Smartphone. 2018, Jimmy Im, "I shopped at Amazon's new 4-star-product store in New York City — here's why I wouldn't do it again", CNBC.com, 2018 September 28
    • "[…] we want them to bring a product to market that's time had not yet come," said Ray Farhung, a Southern California Edison official. 1993 January 10, Bill Vlasic, “Cool Contest”, in The Detroit News, page 1D:
    • that's is perfectly possible in my Northern Irish English dialect, e.g. "The cow that's calf was lost" is fine; "The cow whose calf was lost" is not so good as my dialect seems to require human reference for who, […] 2014 March 28, Warren Maguire, “['That's'] Comments”, in Mark Liberman, Language Log, archived from the original on 08 Apr 2014:
    • He had in his pocket an old flick-knife that's spring was slow and temperamental. 1992, Jim Crace, Arcadia, page 10:
    • […] the only one that's title has been released […] 2009, Doug Whitman, quoted in Neal Whitman, "We Don't Speak the Same Language" (blog post, 2011 March 23)

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
thats alternative lexicographic