thou

[ th ou ]

/ ðaʊ /

pronoun, singular, nominative thou; possessive thy or thine; objective thee; plural, nominative you or ye; possessive your or yours; objective you or ye.

Archaic except in some elevated or ecclesiastical prose. the personal pronoun of the second person singular in the nominative case (used to denote the person or thing addressed): Thou shalt not kill.

(used by the Friends) a familiar form of address of the second person singular.

verb (used with object)

to address as “thou.”

verb (used without object)

to use “thou” in discourse.

Nearby words

thoth, thothmes, thotmes i, thotmes ii, thotmes iii, thou, though, thought, thought disorder, thought experiment, thought leader

Origin of thou

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, OCS ty; akin to Sanskrit tvam; (v.) late Middle English thowen, derivative of the pronoun

Definition for thou (2 of 2)

thou

[ thou ]

/ θaʊ /

noun, plural thous, (as after a numeral) thou. Slang.

one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.

Origin of thou

First recorded in 1865–70; by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thou

In an arms races to prove they are holier than thou, rabbis add more and more prohibitions and prerequisites.
Why Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Babies Keep Getting Herpes|Emily Shire|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
The Story of Noah's Ark From the Bible’s Book of Genesis|The Daily Beast|March 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
According to the politest version, the Cossacks replied: Thou Turkish Devil!
Cossacks: The Cowboys of Crimea|Kamil Tchorek|March 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
American declinism is the prophetic motif: If you will pray, thou shalt be redeemed.
Sunday Q&A: Josef Joffe on the Myth of American Decline|Michael Moynihan|November 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The Hymns are Breathe on Me, Breath of God and Be Thou My Vision.
First Photograph of Prince George at Christening as Godparents Finally Named|Tom Sykes|October 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To confirm this remark let the sentences be inverted; "thou art an hard man, I knew thee to be such, or I knew it."
Dissertation on the English Language|Noah Webster, Jr.
Nay”—as the youth looked up in astonishment—“nay, answer me not, for I know what thou wouldst have.
Hero Tales and Legends of the Rhine|Lewis Spence
Thou must not be angry with me, my mother; only fools get angry at the truth.
A Nobleman's Nest|Ivan Turgenieff
Blessed be thou, thou art a prince and born in the illustrious line of Matsyas.
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 4|Kisari Mohan Ganguli
But I see that thou art wont to commit thy understanding to the custody of thy wife.
'Midst the Wild Carpathians|Mr Jkai

British Dictionary definitions for thou (1 of 2)

thou

/ (ðaʊ) /

pronoun (subjective)

archaic, dialect refers to the person addressed: used mainly in familiar address or to a younger person or inferior

(usually capital) refers to God when addressed in prayer, etc

Word Origin for thou

Old English thū; related to Old Saxon thū, Old High German du, Old Norse thū, Latin tū, Doric Greek tu

British Dictionary definitions for thou (2 of 2)

thou

/ (θaʊ) /

noun plural thous or thou

one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre

informal short for thousand

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for thou

thou

pron.

2nd nominative singular personal pronoun, Old English þu, from Proto-Germanic *thu (cf. Old Frisian thu, Middle Dutch and Middle Low German du, Old High German and German du, Old Norse þu, Gothic þu), from PIE *tu-, second person singular pronoun (cf. Latin tu, Irish tu, Welsh ti, Greek su, Lithuanian tu, Old Church Slavonic ty, Sanskrit twa-m).

Superseded in Middle English by plural form you (from a different root), but retained in certain dialects (e.g. Philadelphia Quakers). The plural at first was used in addressing superior individuals, later also (to err on the side of propriety) strangers, and ultimately all equals. By c.1450 the use of thou to address inferiors gave it a tinge of insult unless addressed by parents to children, or intimates to one another. Hence the verb meaning "to use 'thou' to a person" (mid-15c.).

Avaunt, caitiff, dost thou thou me! I am come of good kin, I tell thee! ["Hickscorner," c.1530]

A brief history of the second person pronoun in English can be found here.

thou

pronoun, singular, nominative thou; possessive thy or thine; objective thee; plural, nominative you or ye; possessive your or yours; objective you or ye.

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Origin of thou

Definition for thou (2 of 2)

thou

noun, plural thous, (as after a numeral) thou. Slang.

Origin of thou

Examples from the Web for thou

British Dictionary definitions for thou (1 of 2)

thou

pronoun (subjective)

Word Origin for thou

British Dictionary definitions for thou (2 of 2)

thou

noun plural thous or thou

Word Origin and History for thou

thou