thou
1 Americanpronoun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
pronoun
-
archaic 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
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
He said the Eleventh Commandment of the Bible should be "thou shalt not be indifferent".
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2025
“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
My baby, my blood, my honest truth: entreat me not to leave thee, for whither thou goest I will go.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
An unpublished short story by Charlotte Brontë featuring flogging and embezzling, as well as a poem stuffed with thees and thous, have been discovered inside a book owned by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
Well, first you would change the thees, the thous, the thys and the thines.
From Time Magazine Archive
Translated directly from the Hebrew Masoretic text, the new Torah leaves out Elizabethan thees and thous, shuns traditional Biblical prose.
From Time Magazine Archive
I like the Quaker speech: the gentle intimacy of their "little language," with its quaint "thees" and "thous," and the curious turn they give to their verbs, disregarding the formalities of grammar.
From Days Off And Other Digressions by Van Dyke, Henry
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
We are into the first of thee added minutes at the end of the first half.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2024
The felony charges against Gutierrez-Reed carry a possible sentence of up to thee years in prison.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
“And now thee can both have supper with me again,” said Hannah, delighted as a child at the prospect of a party.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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
Here’s the tl;dr, Mr. President: That line about “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!” sounds awesome but is meant to be ironic.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
But it’s out with Barrie, back to ye old “Bohème.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
They all listened as the sergeant at arms announced “hear ye, hear ye, all persons are commanded to keep silent under pain of imprisonment” during the course of the impeachment trial.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 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
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
So even if you earned $300,000 a year in your last five years, only that maximum applies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Claiming Social Security doesn’t push someone into a higher tax bracket nearly as often as people would have you believe.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Having power of attorney for her does not obligate you to act as executor.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Deputies will wait here until you go,” the sheriff sneers before sauntering toward the sandy-haired man.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ms. Love’s father had shunned her when she came out, but her mother, by then divorced from her father, had declared, “First to thine own self be true!”
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 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
Go tentpole-wide with “All superheroes wear masks,” or hit the prestige note with something like “Drink to me only with thine eyes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2020
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
Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
I then couldn’t help but recall Shakespeare: “Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince. And angels sing thee to thy rest.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 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
As “The Ballad of the Witches Road” says, “Primal night, giveth sight familiar by thy side. If onе be gone, we carry on, spirit as our guidе.”
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2024
“Safe with all thy loved ones. ’Tis the Feast of Christmas, and thou hast found the door in thy wall.”
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
Your payment date depends on your birth date, so your first payment will generally arrive the month after your first month of entitlement, regardless of whether your birthday is on, say, Oct.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
If you have delayed claiming while working, you will generally need to enroll yourself when your employer coverage ends to avoid late-enrollment penalties.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The authority your friend’s power of attorney gives you ends the moment she dies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Make sure there isn’t a gap between the end of your employer health insurance and the start of your Medicare.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The front of the cortex seems to be hanging in space until you realize that your face fits the space underneath.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
"It's very much our money rather than mine or yours which is really nice especially as I took four years off work when we had children," says Sarah.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 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 emails caught my attention, and now yours too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Today’s dramatists have been extending a generous invitation to their compatriots: We’ll show you our complexity, if you’ll show us yours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
“A secret that’s not even yours to tell,” Håkon said.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
