Aught is a pronoun meaning anything whatever. Though it has an archaic ring in American English, it is common in British English.
Aught is often confused with nought and naught—which mean, respectively, zero and nothing—especially when referring to years between 2001 and 2009. In the U.S., people often describe the first decade of the 21st century as the aughts, and we say, for instance, aught four for 2004. This can’t be stopped, but it’s based on a misunderstanding of what aught means. It would make more sense to say oh four, two thousand four, or, if one simply must use an archaism, nought four.
Aught is also not to be confused with ought, the synonym of should.
Examples
These writers use aught well:
Her hands are so exquisitely formed, so slender, one could imagine them breaking beneath aught heavier than a bit of chiffon. [quoted in The Daily Gleaner]
The drunk always believes that aught he does or says is witty. [Telegraph]
Aught vs. ought
Mistaken use of aught in place of ought, meaning should (with to) is surprisingly common. In each of these examples, aught should be changed to ought:
SANDAG will accept comments from the public on what kinds of items aught to be considered in the formal environmental impact report … [North County Times]
No doubt, the same policy will aught to extend in entire Manipur state by the department … [Kangla Online]
And those on medication for heart or blood pressure aught to remember taking it before the game. [KENS 5]
