thou
1[ 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.
Words nearby thou
Origin of thou
1before 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)
thou2
[ thou ]
/ θaʊ /
noun, plural thous, (as after a numeral) thou. Slang.
one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.
Origin of thou
2First 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
British Dictionary definitions for thou (1 of 2)
thou1
/ (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)
thou2
/ (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
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