thou

[th ou]

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.

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

thou

[thou]

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 thous

Historical Examples of thous

I'll take three to one in thous, and do it twice, that Guardsman wins, or is placed.
Sporting Society, Vol. II (of 2)
Various
Behold how I have used the senses, the primary conceptions which Thous gavest me.
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
Epictetus
I mighty glad I done wid it, 'kaze my back feel like it done broke in a thous'n pieces.
Nights With Uncle Remus
Joel Chandler Harris
Prisoners mother (from the middle of the court): Robert, tell them thous under age, and thy marriage cant stand good.
The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 2/2
Camden Pelham
"Two thous'n three forty-seven pounds," whispered Mr. Shalford audibly, feigning forgetfulness of Kipps.
Kipps
H. G. Wells

British Dictionary definitions for thous

thou

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

thou

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 thous

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.