thou
1 Americanpronoun
-
you,
plural, objective
-
ye,
plural, objective
-
thee,
objective
-
thy,
possessive
-
thine,
possessive
-
your,
possessive
-
yours
possessive
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
thous,
plural
-
thou
plural
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:
“It shouldn’t be this black box that we say, ‘Verily thou shalt, and then that’s the answer.’”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
A church warden said it was "ironic" that thieves stole a painting of the Ten Commandments, including text reading "thou shalt not steal", from a church.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 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
He listened. ... oh hast thou forgotten how soon we must sever?
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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
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
No thees or thous in a streamlined Shakespeare Suppose you wanted to modernize Shakespeare, pull him up by his Elizabethan pantoffles and bring his 37 plays into our more streamlined age.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hast thous not torn the Naiad from her flood, The Elfin from the green grass, and from me The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?
From The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 5 by Edgar Allan Poe
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
Delhi emphasised its actions on Wednesday targeted terrorist infrastructure and said thee were chosen "based on credible intelligence inputs".
From BBC ● May 7, 2025
The felony charges against Gutierrez-Reed carry a possible sentence of up to thee years in prison.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
“Then ‘tis: Na, Tom, for thee must go right quickly.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
There is no ye olde mansion to visit, the house Morris was born and died in having been torn down in 1905 to make way for a railyard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
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
Burton replied: "You've never been nicked or had ye prints took anyway so doesn't matter".
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
Beloved ye are come unto the church of the living God.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024
Lucky for two of ye, the pair that scored the highest in this tryout gets a head start at the next one.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
“It gives you some rest when you are visiting,” he said, adding: “If you have 40 rooms full of paintings, it can be a little boring.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
"To all trans girls participating in school sports in Washington, we want you to know that you belong: on the field, on the court, on the team," the advocate continued.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
“I’m aware of all those social issues, as you can imagine, and I care desperately about all the problems facing us,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
And to be able to win, you have to work with everyone around you.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Different areas of the cortex let you recognize letters in a book or faces in a crowd, or know whether you are standing upright.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
The milkshake cup features Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
“That was what my mama always used to say: to thine own self be true. I put a lot of stock in that,” she told The Guardian.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2023
Several of his pieces reflect the importance of Byrd, most explicitly “Two Motets,” an orchestration of “Bow thine Ear” and “Miserere mei, Deus.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2023
For thine is the kingdom,The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2022
“Now ’twill be thine own crutches thou wilt wear made by thine own hands.”
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
Talarico, a former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, has courted voters with a populist economic pitch blended with an overlay of Christian messaging to “love thy neighbor.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
The Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday is from the sixth chapter of Matthew—the chapter in which Jesus teaches the disciples to recite the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
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
“Well, let’s see. There’s the first commandment, ‘Honor thy father and mother.’”
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Land inside your declared error bars and you are protected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Never try to time the market, but do understand your relationship — and your investments’ relationship — to it.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
“What happened to you once you became aware of it? How did this start to inform the way you moved your body through the world, the way you thought about your own safety?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Pigott described caffeine as "a bit like going into your overdraft - you might immediately have a little bit more money or cash, but that does need to be repaid in some format".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
“This is the last one. And it’s in your size,” she says, handing it to me.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Their spice cabinet becomes yours; their stove, your stove; their neighborhood grocery store, your little errand.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
Did you look at anyone else’s residency when you were putting yours together?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
“When we retire, we’ll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories, and yours will be at the top of it all,” Witkoff said in comments directly to the Russian leader.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Surviving spouses can claim up to 100% of a late spouse’s Social Security, depending on when they claim, should your husband’s be higher than yours and you predecease him.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
“I am nothing if not loyal. You have maintained yours to me. Never speaking ill against me. You may have your true tongue back.”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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