thou
1 Americanpronoun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
pronoun
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archaic refers to the person addressed: used mainly in familiar address or to a younger person or inferior
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(usually capital) refers to God when addressed in prayer, etc
noun
-
one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre
-
informal short for thousand
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of thou1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English thū; cognate with German, Middle Dutch du, Old Norse thū, Gothic thu, Old Irish tú, Welsh, Cornish ti, Latin tū, Doric Greek tý, Lithuanian tù, Old Church Slavonic ty; akin to Sanskrit tvam; (verb) late Middle English thowen, derivative of the pronoun
Origin of thou2
First recorded in 1865–70; by shortening
Explanation
The word thou, used in place of "you," is not used much in modern language. In fact, with its Biblical feeling, it’s most often used in religious contexts. Otherwise, it might be used as slang for thousand. Anyone familiar with the Bible knows the word thou means "you." As the word worked its way from Old English, it varied a little in its subtext, from a plural referring to higher-ups, then to equals, and, around 1450, as a slightly insulting reference suggesting inferiority. Today, it's used primarily by specific religious groups, or as a somewhat affected, archaic word in poetry. As a side note, if someone asks you for a thou, they mean a thousand dollars.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
“When I do it, I'm trying not to be holier than thou in every way that I can. And I fail at that a fair amount.”
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2024
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,
From BBC ● May 5, 2023
To Gimli son of Glóin,” she said, “give his Lady’s greeting. Lock-bearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee. But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!”
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
An unpublished short story by Charlotte Brontë featuring flogging and embezzling, as well as a poem stuffed with thees and thous, have been discovered inside a book owned by the novelist’s mother.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 12, 2015
This is precisely the sort of diction that Tagore chose for the English Gitanjali, which, with its thees and thous, has so tried our patience.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2011
Translated directly from the Hebrew Masoretic text, the new Torah leaves out Elizabethan thees and thous, shuns traditional Biblical prose.
From Time Magazine Archive
This mostly felicitous British rendition updates the New English Bible of 1970, shedding thees and thous and many male nouns and pronouns.
From Time Magazine Archive
There is no more of the ye's and thous with which, when he would make an exordium, Thackeray addressed the world—a fashion long since laid aside.
From Masters of the English Novel A Study of Principles and Personalities by Burton, Richard
Get thee to a department store for some soft furnishings.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
Like Donne, we can mine wisdom from the frailty of our mortal bodies—but be grateful that when the bell tolls for thee, plague, smallpox and typhus won’t be to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
“Words cannot express what your music has meant to me. Thank you for everything, and fare thee well, indeed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
Delhi emphasised its actions on Wednesday targeted terrorist infrastructure and said thee were chosen "based on credible intelligence inputs".
From BBC ● May 7, 2025
“Fie on thee for an impertinent lad! Still, ‘Crookshanks’ he is, truly.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
Its baroque, acoustic sounds of a pastoral countryside in ye olde England mesh disturbingly well with softly sung, darkly opaque lyrics.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
The former is known for promoting evangelism, as seen in Jesus’ directive in Mark 16:15: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Burton replied: "You've never been nicked or had ye prints took anyway so doesn't matter".
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024
“Okay, Miss SmartyPants. Why then would the water python attack when ye grabbed the crown?”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
And now for the bad news: If you don’t claim by 70, you permanently forgo any monthly benefits you could have received after turning 70 because delayed retirement credits stop at that age.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
You can generally do that after the fact, as long as you have not already begun carrying out executor duties or accepted the role of executor from the probate court.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
So even if you earned $300,000 a year in your last five years, only that maximum applies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Having power of attorney for her does not obligate you to act as executor.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The cortex is where you think, remember, learn, imagine, read, speak, listen, and dream.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
All of those candidate contortions bring to mind a line from Hamlet: To thine own self be true.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2024
Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Shakespeare play with the line “To thine own self be true.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
For thine is the kingdom,The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2022
This is intentional, part of its strategy to allow the story to play on a field of idealism and emphasize its loftier messages of both knowing yourself and "to thine own self, be true."
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2021
Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Thou art risen to great estate and fortune — release thy shackles.
From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026
Not even the creature’s eloquence moves Victor to self-reflection: “O Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other, and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
While it reads similarly to past statements on loving thy neighbor and concern about keeping families together, the first point this time notably focused on “obeying the law.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
His crime: taking too seriously the biblical commandment to love thy neighbor and the injunction not to kill.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
Samuel Stearns summed up their feelings in a bit of awkward verse: “This mortal Plague at thy command / And thou thereby hast humbled sinful man!”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
The authority your friend’s power of attorney gives you ends the moment she dies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Pleading with you until you agreed, even though she is sick, was not the correct way to approach your friendship.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
However, there is no Social Security benefit to delaying your retirement benefit beyond 70.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
It may be that your friend believes there won’t be enough money left in her estate to pay the executor.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Hey, my cell died. Can I use your phone to call my dad and have him pick me up?”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Celeste replied "of course its yours David", according to testimony from a detective.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
If yours is a private student loan, ask the lender whether it offers temporary-hardship assistance or payment-relief programs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
The difference shapes whether you see success as an entitlement or as yours to create.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The vast Lake Tahoe estate of Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love, complete with a theater, wine tasting room, ice-skating rink and sauna, could be yours — for the small price of $43 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
And then, in a voice that is level and calm, Hannie says, ‘And I know yours.’
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
