aught1

[awt] /ɔt/
noun
1.
anything whatever; any part:
for aught I know.
adverb
2.
Archaic. in any degree; at all; in any respect.
Also, ought.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English aught, ought, Old English āht, āwiht, ōwiht, equivalent to ā, ō ever + wiht thing, wight1

aught2

[awt] /ɔt/
noun
1.
a cipher (0); zero.
2.
aughts, the first decade of any century, especially the years 1900 through 1909 or 2000 through 2009.
Also, ought.
Origin
a naught, taken as an aught (cf. auger). See naught

aught3

[awkht] /ɔxt/
verb (used with object), Scot.
1.
to own; possess.
2.
to owe (someone or something); be obligated to.
adjective
3.
possessed of.
noun
4.
Archaic.
  1. ownership; possession.
  2. property; a possession.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English; Old English æht; cognate with Old High German ēht, Gothic aihts; akin to owe, own

aught4

[awkht] /ɔxt/
adjective, Scot.
1.
eight.
2.
eighth.
Origin
Middle English aghte, aughte, variant of eighte; see eight
Examples from the web for aught
  • Dogs, nor cats, nor even mice had aught to do with it.
  • Thorium definitely aught to be pushed as a more viable fuel.
  • Their companions, for aught he knows, are still on the island.
  • To the hearts made desolate by this irreparable loss, no earthly gain or recuperation can aught avail.
  • Advances in bio fuel technology aught to be applauded, even if bio fuels out pace solar for energy in transportation markets.
  • Living in a coterie, he seems to have read the laudations and not to have noticed aught else-Times.
British Dictionary definitions for aught

aught1

/ɔːt/
pronoun
1.
anything at all; anything whatever (esp in the phrase for aught I know)
adverb
2.
(dialect) in any least part; to any degree
Word Origin
Old English āwiht, from ā ever, ay1 + wiht thing; see wight1

aught2

/ɔːt/
noun
1.
a less common word for nought

nought

/nɔːt/
noun
1.
the digit 0; zero: used esp in counting or numbering
noun, adjective, adverb
2.
a variant spelling of naught
Word Origin
Old English nōwiht, from ne not, no + ōwiht something; see whit
Word Origin and History for aught
n.

"something," Old English awiht "aught, anything, something," literally "e'er a whit," from Proto-Germanic *aiwi "ever" (from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity;" see eon) + *wihti "thing, anything whatever" (see wight). In Shakespeare, Milton and Pope, aught and ought occur indiscriminately.

"nothing, zero," faulty separation of a naught (see naught; cf. also adder for the separation problem).